Am I a Worker Under WHS Law? Status Checker
Check whether you are a worker, a volunteer or another person under the WHS Act, and what health and safety duties apply to you.
The definition of worker in s7 of the model Work Health and Safety Act is deliberately broad. You are a worker if you carry out work in any capacity for a person conducting a business or undertaking (a PCBU) — including as an employee, a contractor or subcontractor, an employee of a contractor, a labour-hire worker, an outworker, an apprentice or trainee, a work-experience student, or a volunteer. Almost everyone who does work for a business is a worker. A worker owes the worker's duties under s28, and the PCBU owes the worker the primary duty of care under s19, regardless of how the worker is engaged. The main exception is a visitor or member of the public who does not carry out work — they are an other person at the workplace under s29 and owe a lesser duty. Choose how you are engaged to see your status and the duties that apply.
How are you engaged at the workplace?
Choose how you work at the business to see whether you are a worker under the model Work Health and Safety Act, the duty you owe, and the duty the business owes you. The definition of worker is very broad, so most people who do work are workers. This is general information, not legal advice.
Your WHS status
- What this means
- An employee carries out work for a PCBU, so you are a worker under s7. "Worker" is the broadest category in WHS law and an employee is the most direct example of it.
- The duty you owe
- You owe the worker's duties under s28: take reasonable care for your own health and safety, take reasonable care that what you do (or fail to do) does not adversely affect others, comply with reasonable health and safety instructions, and cooperate with reasonable health and safety policies and procedures.
- What the business owes you
- The person conducting the business or undertaking (the PCBU) owes you the primary duty of care under s19. It must ensure your health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable, regardless of how you are engaged — the duty is owed to every worker, not just to direct employees.
- Why — citation
- "Worker" is defined broadly in s7 of the model Work Health and Safety Act; the worker's duties are in s28 and the PCBU's primary duty of care is in s19.
Victoria and Western Australia: This reflects the general position under the model Work Health and Safety Act, adopted in NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, ACT, NT, WA and by the Commonwealth (Comcare). Victoria is not part of the harmonised scheme: the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) uses "employer" and "employee" rather than "PCBU" and "worker", so who is covered is framed differently. Western Australia adopted the model WHS Act (the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA)) but with some local variations. Check the Act that applies in your state or territory.
This is general information, not legal advice. Whether you are a worker, and the duties that apply, depend on your exact role and circumstances. Confirm your position under the work health and safety law that applies to you, or with a qualified adviser, before relying on it.
To see every WHS role — PCBU, officer, worker or other person — and the duty each owes, run the WHS Duty Holder Classifier. Or visit the Safety Hub for the full WHS tool set.
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