General guidelines

Labour hire workers are those who are employed by one organisation (the labour hire agency) but work under the direction of another organisation (the host PCBU). Under the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act, both the labour hire agency and the host PCBU have duties to ensure the health and safety of labour hire workers. These duties include:

• Providing a safe work environment and adequate facilities
• Providing information, training, instruction, and supervision
• Consulting and cooperating with each other and the workers
• Monitoring the health and safety of the workers
• Reporting and investigating any incidents or injuries

The workers also have duties to take reasonable care of their own health and safety, and to follow any reasonable instructions and policies.

Know Your Duties tool

Safe Work Australia has developed a Know Your Duties tool that provides information about the duties under the model WHS laws for different industries and scenarios, including labour hire arrangements. You can access the tool here.

For WHS information for other industries not currently included in the tool, please visit the industry and business information page on the Safe Work Australia website.

If you have any questions or concerns about how the WHS laws apply in your workplace, please contact your WHS regulator.

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Sources

Do you use labour hire? by Safe Work Australia, 1st December, 2023.