Your Duties as a PCBU
Under the Work Health and Safety Act, every Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) has a primary duty of care. This applies to sole traders, partnerships, and companies alike. It is not a suggestion - it is a legal obligation.
As a PCBU, you must so far as is reasonably practicable:
- Provide and maintain a safe work environment
- Provide and maintain safe plant, structures, and systems of work
- Ensure the safe use, handling, and storage of substances
- Provide adequate facilities for workers (toilets, drinking water, first aid)
- Provide information, training, instruction, and supervision
- Monitor the health of workers and the conditions of the workplace
What "Reasonably Practicable" Actually Means
It does not mean "if it is convenient." It means doing what a reasonable person in your position would do. You weigh the likelihood and severity of harm against the cost and feasibility of controlling it.
Regulators and courts apply this test seriously. "I did not know" or "we have always done it this way" are not defences.
If you are a tradie running your own business on construction sites, the requirements below are the baseline. Miss any of them and you are exposed to fines, site shutdowns, and personal liability.
The Core Compliance Requirements
White Card
Every person performing construction work in Australia must hold a General Construction Induction Card (White Card). This is a national requirement under the WHS Regulations.
Key facts:
- Obtained by completing a one-day general construction induction training course
- Covers WHS legislation, hazard identification, risk management, and emergency procedures
- Valid nationally - a White Card from one state is recognised in all others
- Must be carried or producible on site at all times
If an inspector asks and you cannot show it, you can be directed to leave the site. Allowing someone without a White Card to work on your construction site puts you in breach as the PCBU.
SWMS for High-Risk Construction Work
A Safe Work Method Statement is legally required for any of the 19 high-risk construction work activities. These include working at heights above 2 metres, demolition, excavation deeper than 1.5 metres, confined space work, and work near live electrical.
Your SWMS must be:
- Site-specific - tailored to the actual job and location, not a generic template
- Risk-assessed - hazards identified with likelihood and consequence ratings
- Control-documented - specific measures using the hierarchy of controls
- Signed by every worker before they start the high-risk work
- Available on site for inspection at all times
A SWMS written for a different job that hasn't been updated for the current site is not compliant. Inspectors check for this routinely.
JSA and Take 5 Assessments
A Job Safety Analysis (JSA) is the standard risk assessment tool for work outside the 19 high-risk categories. While not always a strict legal requirement, most principal contractors mandate them for every task.
Even where not required, a JSA demonstrates due diligence and gives you a documented defence if something goes wrong.
A Take 5 is a quick, point-of-work risk assessment completed at the start of each task or shift. It takes about five minutes and requires workers to stop, look at their surroundings, and identify immediate hazards.
Many sites require a Take 5 even when a SWMS or JSA is already in place. They are complementary tools, not substitutes.
Vehicle and Plant Prestarts
If you are using vehicles, machinery, or powered plant on site, a prestart checklist must be completed before each shift or use.
This applies to:
- Utes, trucks, and vans
- Excavators, skid steers, and forklifts
- Elevated work platforms
- Generators, compressors, and other powered equipment
A prestart inspection typically covers:
- Fluid levels (oil, coolant, hydraulic)
- Tyre condition and pressure
- Lights, indicators, and reversing alarms
- Brakes and steering
- Safety devices (seatbelts, ROPS, FOPS, emergency stops)
- General condition - damage, leaks, loose components
- Fire extinguisher presence and currency
Any defect that makes the equipment unsafe must result in the equipment being tagged out and taken out of service until repaired. Running defective plant is one of the easiest fines for inspectors to issue.
Keep your prestart records. They are one of the first things auditors ask for.
Site Attendance and Access Control
Every worker on site must be accounted for at all times. This is a critical requirement for emergency management.
If there is a fire, structural collapse, or evacuation event, the site manager needs an accurate list of who is on site.
Your obligations:
- Sign in on arrival and sign out on departure - every time, no exceptions
- Maintain accurate time records for all workers, subcontractors, and visitors
- Follow the site's access control procedures
- Ensure visitors and deliveries are logged
Gaps in attendance records are a compliance failure. Workers arriving early, leaving without signing out, or moving between zones without updating their status create holes that are dangerous in an emergency and damaging in an audit.
PPE Standards
Personal protective equipment must comply with relevant Australian and New Zealand Standards. The gear must meet the standard for the task.
Key standards to know:
- Safety footwear - AS/NZS 2210.3
- Hard hats - AS/NZS 1801 (Type 1, 2, or 3 depending on risk)
- Safety eyewear - AS/NZS 1337.1 (medium or high impact)
- Hi-vis clothing - AS/NZS 4602.1 (Class D for day, Class N for night, Class D/N for both)
- Hearing protection - AS/NZS 1270 (rated to appropriate SLC80 class)
- Respiratory protection - AS/NZS 1716 (P1, P2, or P3 depending on contaminant)
If an inspector checks your crew's PPE and it doesn't meet the relevant standard, or it is damaged or not being worn, that is a compliance failure on you as the PCBU.
Licensing Requirements
Different types of work require specific licences. Requirements vary by state and territory.
Common licences tradies need:
- Electrical licence - required for all electrical work (state-specific)
- Plumbing licence - required for all plumbing and drainage work
- High-risk work licences - for operating forklifts, cranes, EWPs, scaffolding, rigging, and dogging
- Demolition licence - required in most states
- Asbestos removal licence - Class A (friable) or Class B (non-friable)
- Refrigerant handling licence - required under the Ozone Protection Act
Each state regulator (SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria, WHSQ, etc.) maintains its own licensing register. You are responsible for ensuring every worker holds the correct current licence.
Keep a register of licence numbers and expiry dates. Check it regularly.
Incident Reporting Obligations
Under the WHS Act, certain incidents must be reported to the regulator. These are called notifiable incidents and include:
- Death of a person
- Serious injury or illness - fractures (other than fingers, toes, or nose), amputation, serious head or eye injury, spinal injury, loss of bodily function, serious burns, or any injury requiring immediate hospital treatment
- Dangerous incidents - events that exposed a person to serious risk, even if no one was injured (collapse of a structure, uncontrolled explosion, electric shock, fall from height)
The requirements are strict:
- Notify the regulator immediately by phone - not the next day. Immediately.
- Preserve the incident site - do not disturb anything unless necessary to help an injured person or prevent further danger
- Submit a written notification within 48 hours with full details
- Keep records for at least 5 years
Failure to notify is a separate offence with its own penalties.
What Inspectors Actually Look For
When a SafeWork or WorkSafe inspector arrives on your site, they check:
- SWMS exist and are signed for all high-risk work on site
- Workers can explain the hazards and controls for their current task
- PPE is correct and in good condition - right standard, right type, being worn properly
- Plant has current prestart records and is in safe condition
- Licences are current for workers performing licensed work
- Documentation is accessible on site - "it is back at the office" is not acceptable
- Housekeeping - a messy site signals poor safety culture
- Exclusion zones and barriers are in place and effective
Inspectors also talk to your workers directly. If your crew cannot describe the risks of their task or the controls they follow, that tells the inspector more than any document.
Common Compliance Gaps
- Documents exist but nobody has read them - SWMS and JSAs are filed but workers haven't been briefed
- Out-of-date safety documents - a SWMS from a different site months ago with no updates
- No prestart records - one of the easiest things to do and one of the most common gaps
- Incomplete attendance records - workers not signing in or out consistently
- No evidence of consultation - safety documents prepared without worker input
- Relying on memory - "we do that but don't write it down" is not compliance. If it is not documented, it did not happen.
2026 Enforcement Trends
Regulators across Australia have signalled stricter enforcement in 2026, focusing on:
- Silica dust exposure - tighter workplace exposure standards and increased inspections
- Psychosocial hazards - new obligations for managing workplace mental health, bullying, and fatigue
- Gig economy and labour hire - closer scrutiny of PCBU obligations in non-traditional arrangements
- Principal contractor duties - increased accountability for managing subcontractor compliance
- Digital record-keeping - regulators increasingly expect accessible, auditable digital records
Stay ahead of these trends by reviewing your compliance systems now, not after you get an improvement notice.
Stay On Top of It
Compliance is not a one-off exercise. Build it into your daily routine:
- Prestarts, Take 5s, and sign-ins every day, no exceptions
- Review SWMS and JSAs at least monthly or whenever scope changes
- Keep your training register current with licence expiry dates flagged
- Train your crew so they understand the requirements, not just follow orders
Burgy brings all of this into one app - SWMS, JSAs, Take 5s, vehicle prestarts, site attendance, and crew management. Everything is digital, signed on site, timestamped, and stored for audits.
Instead of managing a stack of separate paper forms, your whole compliance system lives in one place and is accessible from every phone on site.