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VIDEO · 28 OCTOBER 2026

National Safe Work Month – For Life – Why WHS Matters (Video)

Cooper Grace Ward
Cooper Grace Ward
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Cooper Grace Ward

Cooper Grace Ward

Cooper Grace Ward was established in 1980 and has quickly become one of the largest independent...

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October is National Safe Work Month, and Cooper Grace Ward's workplace relations and safety team explores why work health and safety matters for every business. Special counsel Gemma Sharp examines the legal duties of PCBUs and officers to protect workers from both physical and psychosocial hazards, emphasizing that safety must be woven into the fabric of business operations rather than treated as an afterthought.

AustraliaEmployment and HR
Gemma Sharp
Gemma Sharp
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October is National Safe Work Month. Each week, Cooper Grace Ward’s workplace relations and safety team will ask you to think about the safety systems and practices in your business.

In this first instalment, special counsel Gemma Sharp unpacks week one’s theme, ‘For life: why work health and safety matters’. Safety should be woven into the fabric of a business, not bolted on afterwards – it is a responsibility shared from leadership to the shop floor. Gemma covers the duty on PCBUs and officers to take all reasonably practicable steps to protect workers, noting that psychosocial risks, such as excessive workloads, carry the same legal weight as physical hazards.

Video transcript

October is National Safe Work Month, and each week we’re going to be asking you to think about the safety systems and practices in your business.

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