Work health and safety requirements for contractors and suppliers

NHMRC is committed to taking every reasonably practicable step to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of those workers that undertake our business; which includes contractors and suppliers.¹ In providing a safe and healthy workplace, we foster an environment in which we can all effectively contribute to achieving community and business outcomes.

All workers have a legal responsibility to act in a safe manner and to report risks and accidents as they occur.

Work health and safety principles

Notwithstanding the legislated duties and responsibilities conferred on NHMRC and its Workers under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (the WHS Act), NHMRC’s commitment to WHS is encapsulated within the following principles:

• ensuring the workforce has the knowledge and skills to comply with their individual responsibilities, duties and/or powers under the WHS Act
• both NHMRC and its Workers share the responsibility for, and proactively identify, hazards and mitigate risk
• seamless adoption of WHS into business as usual decision-making and operational activities.

What you can expect of us

When working with us under a contract, agreement or other documented work arrangement, we will demonstrate our commitment to WHS by:

• reducing the number and severity of WHS risks
• improving the prevention of workplace injury, illness and disease
• reducing the impact of workplace injury, illness and disease
• ensuring Workers are trained, supported and motivated to identify and manage hazards and risks effectively
• improving and embedding the capability to identify, eliminate and manage hazards and risks in the design and planning stages of procurement and organisational output.

What we ask of you

If you are working with us under a contract, agreement or other documented work arrangement, we ask that you:

• comply with your obligations under Australian work health and safety legislation and the contract specific WHS requirements
• consult with us in relation to work health and safety duties and obligations to determine how shared responsibilities will be managed
• provide information on how health and safety risks have been eliminated or mitigated in work being undertaken for us
• comply with the contract specific WHS requirements for qualifications, licences and registration
• comply with the procedures that we have implemented to protect workers' health and safety
• report all incidents that have affected the health and safety of people
• provide sufficient information to allow us to monitor contract specific WHS performance.

Additionally, if supplying goods to us, we ask that you:

• supply products that are designed and manufactured to minimise the risk of injury to people working or visiting us
• install or construct plant or structures so that they will be safe
• provide sufficient information on the safe use, storage and disposal of the product so that risks can be eliminated or mitigated.

Legislative and policy framework

There are a number of legislative, policy and related documents that form the Commonwealth framework within which we conduct health, safety and procurement activities. The most important of these are:

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011
• Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011
• Codes of Practice

¹ A worker is defined as a person who carries out work in any capacity for the NHMRC. This includes, but is not limited to an employee, contractor or sub-contractor, an employee of a contractor or sub-contractor, an employee of a labour hire company, an apprentice or trainee, a student gaining work experience, an outworker or a volunteer.  Section 7 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011