WHS Compliance Checklist for Australian Employers (2026)

2026 WHS Compliance Checklist for Australian Employers

Use this table as your starting self-assessment.

The sections below explain what to look for without turning this checklist into another general WHS guide.

1. Confirm Your WHS Jurisdiction, Duties and Responsibilities

Start by confirming which legal framework applies where the work is carried out.

As outlined in Safe Work Australia's overview of the model WHS laws, most Australian jurisdictions have implemented versions of the model WHS laws. Victoria is the exception and continues to use its OHS framework. Jurisdictions can also vary the model provisions, so national guidance should not be assumed to be the exact law operating locally.

Check whether your organisation understands:

• who the relevant PCBUs, officers and workers are;

• who is responsible for particular WHS activities; and

• where duties overlap with contractors, landlords or other businesses.

Under the model framework, a PCBU's primary duty covers matters including safe work environments and systems, plant, facilities, training, supervision and monitoring. See how WHS laws work across Australia for the broader framework, or refer to Safe Work Australia's guidance on duties of a PCBU for the national model position.

2. Check Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Controls

Risk management should be an ongoing process, not an assessment completed once and filed away.

Check whether reasonably foreseeable physical and psychological hazards are being identified, workers are involved, risks are assessed where necessary, and existing controls still work.

Under Safe Work Australia's guidance on managing health and safety risks, risks should be eliminated so far as reasonably practicable. Where elimination is not reasonably practicable, they must be minimised so far as reasonably practicable. The hierarchy of controls is specifically required for certain risks.

3. Check Worker Consultation and Participation

Consultation is more than holding an occasional safety meeting.

Under Safe Work Australia's guidance on WHS consultation duties, PCBUs must consult affected workers on matters such as identifying hazards, assessing risks, deciding on controls and proposing changes that may affect health and safety. HSRs must be involved where workers are represented by one.

Check whether workers can raise concerns, receive feedback on consultation outcomes and participate regardless of shift, location, language or other practical barriers.

Safe Work Australia's worker consultation guidance also explains how consultation methods should suit the workplace and be accessible to workers.

4. Check Training, Instruction and Supervision

Ask whether workers receive the information and support they actually need for the work they perform.

That includes suitable induction for new workers, task-specific instruction, appropriate supervision and additional training when work, equipment or risks change. There is no single refresher frequency that suits every worker and hazard. Safe Work Australia's workplace safety training guidance explains that the type and amount of training required varies with the worker and the work.

Keep relevant evidence of training and competency, while recognising that record-keeping requirements can differ according to the activity involved.

For teams needing broader WHS awareness, ACT's Workplace Health & Safety (WHS) course covers areas including hazard identification, risk assessment, consultation, safe work practices, incident response and psychological health. It can support general understanding, but it does not replace workplace-specific instruction, supervision, required licences or specialist training.

5. Check Emergency, First Aid and Incident Arrangements

Confirm that emergency procedures work in practice—not merely that a plan exists.

Under Safe Work Australia's emergency plan guidance, PCBUs must prepare, maintain, test and implement an emergency plan and arrange worker training on the procedures it contains under the model WHS Regulations.

Your review should consider whether:

• emergency arrangements reflect the actual workplace and risks;

• workers understand what to do;

• plans have been tested and updated;

• first aid arrangements remain suitable;

• incidents and near misses can be reported promptly; and

• relevant staff understand regulator notification and site-preservation procedures where these apply.

For detailed treatment of these obligations, see ACT's guide to WHS compliance requirements in Australia.

6. Check Psychosocial Hazards Alongside Physical Hazards

Psychological health belongs in the same risk-management conversation as physical safety.

Under Safe Work Australia's guidance on psychosocial WHS duties, PCBUs must identify reasonably foreseeable psychosocial hazards and eliminate psychosocial risks where reasonably practicable, or minimise them so far as reasonably practicable under the model WHS framework. Relevant considerations include work design, job demands, workplace interactions, environmental conditions, training and supervision.

Check whether your review considers issues such as excessive job demands, low control, poor support, violence, bullying, harassment and remote or isolated work where relevant.

Controls should address the way work is designed and managed rather than relying only on individual resilience measures.

For deeper guidance, see ACT's article on psychosocial hazards in Australian workplaces.

7. Check Plant, Equipment, Chemicals and High-Risk Work Where Relevant

Not every workplace needs the same specialist checks.

Where relevant to your operations, confirm that plant is maintained appropriately, hazardous chemicals are identified, current safety information is accessible, exposure risks are assessed, and required licences or competencies are verified.

Construction businesses may also need to consider safe work method statements for high-risk construction work. Other workplaces may have specific duties relating to confined spaces, hazardous manual tasks, airborne contaminants, noise, electrical work or other prescribed risks.

Safe Work Australia's WHS duties guidance identifies a range of these risk-specific responsibilities.

The point of this checklist is not to reproduce every specialist requirement. It is to flag when a business needs to move from a general WHS review to risk-specific regulator guidance.

8. Check Records, Monitoring, Reviews and Corrective Actions

Documents matter when they show that safety processes are actually happening.

Depending on your workplace, useful evidence may include:

• risk assessments and inspection records;

• consultation records;

• incident reports;

• training or competency evidence;

• emergency testing records;

• maintenance records; and

• corrective-action registers.

Avoid assuming every WHS record has one universal retention period. Some activities have specific legal record-keeping requirements, while keeping additional records may simply be sound management practice.

More broadly, effective WHS best practices should include monitoring whether controls continue to work.

The useful question is not simply, “Do we have the document?” It is, “Does the evidence show that this process is being implemented and reviewed?”

2026 WHS Checks That Need Extra Attention

A 2026 checklist should account for current developments rather than simply changing the year in the title.

Incident notification: The model WHS Act's incident-notification provisions were amended in December 2025. Importantly, the changes apply locally only after they are adopted into the relevant jurisdiction's laws. Employers should check Safe Work Australia's current incident notification guidance and their local regulator before changing reporting processes.

Workplace exposure limits: From 1 December 2026, workplace exposure standards under the model framework transition to workplace exposure limits, with changes affecting limits for some airborne contaminants. Businesses where exposure is relevant should review Safe Work Australia's workplace exposure limits guidance and confirm the applicable jurisdictional requirements.

For a broader discussion, see ACT's 2026 WHS compliance requirements.

What Should You Do If the Checklist Finds a WHS Gap?

An unchecked item should lead to action rather than another document sitting in a folder.

1. Record the gap. Describe what is missing, outdated or ineffective.

2. Check the immediate risk. Determine whether people are currently exposed to harm.

3. Apply interim controls where needed. Do not wait for a long-term solution if immediate measures are reasonably available.

4. Assign responsibility and timing. Give the action a clear owner and appropriate deadline.

5. Implement the control or improvement. Follow the relevant risk-management and legal requirements.

6. Verify the result. Check whether the action worked before treating the issue as closed.

If the requirement is unclear or the issue involves significant risk, check the legislation and guidance for your jurisdiction or obtain competent professional advice.

WHS Compliance Checklist vs Workplace Inspection vs WHS Audit

These terms are related, but they do different jobs.

A workplace may use all four. A general checklist can identify an issue that then requires an inspection, risk assessment or more formal audit.

Turn the Checklist Into an Ongoing WHS Process

A WHS compliance checklist is most useful when it leads to evidence, action and review—not when it becomes a once-a-year box-ticking exercise.

Use it to identify what is working, where evidence is weak and which gaps need attention. Then verify legal requirements against the regulator responsible for your jurisdiction and keep reviewing controls as your workplace, workforce and risks change.