WHS for sole traders and small builders in Australia

There is a common belief that work health and safety law is only for big companies. It isn't. Under the WHS laws, a sole trader is a PCBU, a person conducting a business or undertaking, with the same primary duty of care as a large builder, scaled to the size and risk of the work. This guide explains what a sole trader actually has to do, where sole traders most often get caught out, and how to meet the duty without drowning in paperwork. Requirements are administered by each state and territory regulator, so check the rules where you work.

You are a PCBU

The primary duty of care under the WHS Act falls on the PCBU, and a sole trader is a PCBU. That means you must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of yourself, anyone you engage, and anyone else who could be affected by your work, the same core duty a large company has, applied proportionately to your work. "Reasonably practicable" scales with the size and risk of what you do, so a solo tiler is not expected to run a corporate safety system, but the duty itself is not reduced just because you work alone.

What you actually have to do

In practical terms, for most trade sole traders that means: manage the risks of your work so far as is reasonably practicable; hold a White Card and any high-risk work licences your work requires; prepare a SWMS for any high-risk construction work you carry out; keep your public liability insurance current, and workers' compensation or a personal accident policy as appropriate; maintain and check any plant and equipment you use; and, if you bring anyone else on, even casually or a labourer for a day, meet your duties to them too, including consultation and induction.

Where sole traders get caught out

The usual gaps are predictable. A generic SWMS downloaded once and used on every job, that names none of the actual hazards of the work in front of you. Lapsed insurance or a licence that quietly expired. And no evidence of the checks and inductions that were actually done, because "I know it's safe" is not the same as being able to show it. On a managed site, a principal contractor will ask for your SWMS, insurances and licences before you set foot on site, and increasingly they verify them rather than just collect them. A missing or out-of-date document at the gate can cost you the day's work, or the job.

It also wins you work

Compliance is not only a legal duty for a sole trader, it is increasingly what gets you through the gate and onto better jobs. Principal contractors and larger clients screen the trades they engage, and being able to produce a current SWMS, White Card, licences and insurance quickly marks you out as easy to work with. The sole trader who can send a compliant pack in minutes wins work over the one who scrambles for a week.

Keep it proportionate

Meeting the duty should not mean a filing cabinet of paperwork or hiring a safety manager. A single place that holds your SWMS, tickets, licences and insurances, with reminders before anything expires, is enough to meet the duty, satisfy a principal contractor, and get you on site, without the overhead of a system built for a hundred-person firm. That is exactly what lightweight WHS compliance software is for.

WHS for sole traders quick reference

• A sole trader is a PCBU with the primary duty of care, scaled to the work
• Manage your risks; hold a White Card and any high-risk work licences
• Prepare a job-specific SWMS for high-risk construction work
• Keep public liability and appropriate personal/workers' cover current
• If you engage anyone, meet your duties to them too
• The common failures are generic SWMS, lapsed cover and no evidence
• A current, produceable compliance pack wins work as well as meeting the law

Related reading: the White Card, SWMS guide, and WHS compliance software. You can keep your SWMS, tickets, licences and insurances in one place with Complys, free for 30 days.