Section 20: WHS Management or Control of Workplaces

Regulatory citation: Model Work Health and Safety Act, Section 20, Duty of persons conducting businesses or undertakings involving management or control of workplaces

What Is the Section 20 Duty?

Section 20 of the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act places a duty on a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to the extent that the business or undertaking involves the management or control, in whole or in part, of a workplace. The Act calls this person the person with management or control of a workplace. The duty is owed to any person, not only workers.

Two groups are excluded. The occupier of a residence is not covered unless the residence is occupied for the purposes of, or as part of, a business or undertaking. A person prescribed by the regulations is also excluded.

Why Section 20 Matters

Many workplaces are shared. Owners, property managers and head contractors often control premises where other businesses' workers, contractors and visitors spend their day. Section 20 makes the person who controls the place responsible for making the place itself safe, including the way people get in and out.

Core Obligations

1. Work Out Whether You Have Management or Control (s20(1))

The duty applies only to the extent that your business manages or controls the workplace, and that control can be partial. Section 8 defines a workplace as a place where work is carried out for a business or undertaking, including any place a worker goes or is likely to be while at work. A place can include a vehicle, vessel, aircraft or other mobile structure, and waters and installations.

2. Keep the Workplace Without Risks (s20(2))

The person with management or control must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the workplace is without risks to the health and safety of any person. This covers the building, grounds, surfaces, lighting and layout that you control.

3. Make Entry and Exit Safe (s20(2))

The duty expressly covers the means of entering and exiting the workplace. Walkways, stairs, doors, car parks, loading docks and emergency exits under your control need to be safe for everyone who uses them.

4. Control Anything Arising From the Workplace (s20(2))

Anything arising from the workplace must also be without risks to any person, so far as is reasonably practicable. This reaches people outside the boundary, such as neighbours or passers-by exposed to falling material, vehicle movements or emissions from the site.

5. Apply the Reasonably Practicable Test (s18)

Section 18 sets out what is reasonably practicable. You weigh the likelihood of the hazard or risk, the degree of harm, what you know or ought reasonably to know about it, the availability and suitability of ways to eliminate or minimise it, and then cost. Cost only justifies not acting if it is grossly disproportionate to the risk.

6. Eliminate, Then Minimise (s17)

Risks must be eliminated so far as is reasonably practicable. If that is not reasonably practicable, they must be minimised so far as is reasonably practicable.

7. Coordinate With Other Duty Holders (ss14–16 and s46)

Duties cannot be transferred, and more than one person can hold the same duty. Each duty holder must meet it to the extent of their capacity to influence and control the matter. Under section 46, each person with a duty on the same matter must, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult, cooperate and coordinate activities with the others. A related duty in section 21 covers management or control of fixtures, fittings and plant at a workplace.

Common Compliance Approaches

Map Who Controls What

Record which areas, access routes and building services each party controls, using leases, contracts and site plans.

Inspect Common Areas

Run scheduled inspections of entrances, car parks, stairwells and exits, and fix defects quickly.

Share Information With Occupants

Agree with tenants and contractors how hazards will be reported and how works in shared areas will be coordinated.

Example: Section 20 in Practice

A property company manages a three-storey office building with several tenant businesses. It controls the lobby, lifts, stairwells, car park and loading dock. After a near miss between a delivery truck and a pedestrian at the dock, it marks separate walkways, adds a convex mirror and sets delivery hours. It tells tenants about the change and asks them to brief their staff and couriers.

Related regulations: WHS primary duty of care, WHS duty to consult, WHS general workplace facilities.

Note: This summary is based on the model WHS Act published by Safe Work Australia. Model laws only take effect once a jurisdiction enacts them, and each jurisdiction's WHS Act can differ in wording, section numbers and penalties. Victoria has not adopted the model WHS laws and has its own OHS Act. Always check the legislation and regulator guidance that apply where you work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does section 20 apply to a home-based business?

It can. The occupier of a residence is excluded unless the residence is occupied for the purposes of, or as part of, a business or undertaking.

Can a tenant and a building owner both have the duty?

Yes. Control can be shared or split. Each must meet the duty to the extent of their capacity to influence and control the matter, and they must consult, cooperate and coordinate.

Is section 20 the same as the primary duty of care?

No. Section 19 is about the conduct of the business and its workers. Section 20 is about the safety of the workplace, its entry and exit, and anything arising from it, and is owed to any person.