Glossary

WHS glossary for Australian builders

What PCBU, SWMS, principal contractor and the rest mean on a building site, in plain English, with the section of the law each one comes from.

Definitions follow the national model WHS laws, quoted from the NSW Act and Regulation, which use the same numbering as the other harmonised states. Victoria runs its own OHS laws, and where it differs the entry says so. Checked against the legislation on 15 October 2026.

People and duties

PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking): The person or business that carries out the work and holds the main safety duty. For a builder, that is usually you or your company, whether you work alone, in a partnership or with a crew, and whether or not you make a profit. Subbies running their own business are PCBUs too.; State differences: Victoria differs: the OHS Act 2004 places duties on an "employer" and a "self-employed person" rather than a PCBU.; WHS Act s 5. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date
Worker: Anyone who does work for a PCBU in any capacity. That includes employees, contractors and subcontractors and their employees, labour hire workers, apprentices, trainees, work experience students and volunteers. A sole trader builder who does the work is also a worker as well as a PCBU.; State differences: Victoria differs: the OHS Act 2004 mainly uses "employee", with separate duties to independent contractors and others.; WHS Act s 7. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date
Workplace: Any place where work is carried out for a business, including anywhere a worker goes or is likely to be while at work. On a residential job that means the site, the site shed, a client's home being renovated and even a ute or truck used for work.; WHS Act s 8. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date
Officer: A person who makes or takes part in making decisions that affect the whole or a substantial part of a business, such as a company director. The NSW Act adopts the Corporations Act meaning, but a partner in a partnership is expressly not an officer. Officers must exercise due diligence.; State differences: Victoria differs: OHS Act 2004 s 144 makes an officer liable where a company's breach is attributable to the officer failing to take reasonable care.; WHS Act s 4 (definition of officer); s 27. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date
Due diligence: The duty officers have to make sure the business meets its safety obligations. It includes taking reasonable steps to keep up to date on WHS, understand the work and its hazards, provide resources and processes to control risks, and have systems to receive and act on incident and hazard information.; State differences: Victoria differs: no equivalent due diligence duty; officer liability under OHS Act 2004 s 144 turns on failing to take reasonable care.; WHS Act s 27(5). Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date
Reasonably practicable: The standard most safety duties are measured against: what you could reasonably do at the time to ensure health and safety. You weigh how likely the risk is, how bad the harm could be, what you know or should know, what controls are available and suitable, and finally cost.; State differences: Victoria has a similar concept in OHS Act 2004 s 20, with its own list of matters to weigh.; WHS Act s 18. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date
Primary duty of care: The main legal duty of every PCBU: ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers you engage or direct, and that other people such as clients and the public are not put at risk by your work. It covers safe sites, plant, systems, training and facilities.; State differences: Victoria differs: the equivalent is the employer's duty in OHS Act 2004 s 21 to provide a working environment that is safe and without risks to health.; WHS Act s 19. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date
Consultation (duty to consult): The legal duty to consult, so far as reasonably practicable, with workers who are or are likely to be directly affected by a health and safety matter. That means sharing information, giving them a real chance to raise issues and contribute, taking their views into account and telling them the outcome.; State differences: Victoria has an equivalent duty for employers in OHS Act 2004 s 35.; WHS Act ss 47, 48, 49. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date
Health and safety representative (HSR): A worker elected by a work group to represent them on health and safety. Any worker can ask the PCBU to facilitate an election. An HSR can inspect the workplace, investigate complaints and raise risks, and if workers are represented by an HSR, consultation must involve them.; State differences: Victoria also has HSRs, elected for designated work groups under the OHS Act 2004.; WHS Act ss 50, 68. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date
Industrial manslaughter: In NSW, a criminal offence where a PCBU or officer with a health and safety duty breaches it with gross negligence and causes a death. The maximum penalty is 25 years jail for an individual and $20 million for a company, with no limitation period. Other states have their own versions.; State differences: Victoria differs: "workplace manslaughter" in OHS Act 2004 s 39G uses a negligence test, with up to 25 years jail for a natural person.; WHS Act ss 34B, 34C, 34E. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date
Regulator: The government body that enforces WHS laws and receives incident notifications. In NSW it is SafeWork NSW. Elsewhere: WorkSafe Victoria, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, WorkSafe WA, SafeWork SA, WorkSafe Tasmania, WorkSafe ACT and NT WorkSafe. Mines and petroleum sites have separate regulators in some states.; State differences: Victoria differs: the regulator is WorkSafe Victoria under the OHS Act 2004.; WHS Act s 4; Schedule 2, cl 1. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date

Construction rules

Construction work: Work done in connection with building, altering, converting, fitting out, renovating, repairing, maintaining, refurbishing, demolishing or dismantling a structure. It also includes related installation and testing, work connected with excavation or site preparation, and removing demolition waste. Most residential building and renovation work is construction work.; WHS Regulation s 289. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date
High risk construction work (HRCW): Construction work on a prescribed list of higher risk activities that needs a SWMS before it starts. Examples include work with a risk of a person falling more than 2 metres, load bearing demolition, disturbing asbestos, structural alterations needing temporary support, and work in or near trenches deeper than 1.5 metres.; State differences: Victoria differs: OHS Regulations 2017 r 322 has its own list of 19 items with different wording. Some states also differ: NT uses more than 3 m for residential construction work from 17 July 2026.; WHS Regulation s 291. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date; Check your job against the list
Construction project: A project involving construction work where the cost is $250,000 or more in NSW. A construction project must have a principal contractor and a written WHS management plan. Thresholds differ: Qld, Tas and ACT $250,000, Vic $350,000, SA $450,000, NT $1,000,000, and WA uses 5 or more people working at once.; State differences: Victoria differs: the threshold is $350,000 and the document is a health and safety co-ordination plan.; WHS Regulation s 292. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date; Thresholds in every state
Principal contractor: The PCBU that commissions a construction project, or the PCBU it engages and authorises to manage the site. Where an individual homeowner engages a builder for a project on their home, the builder is the principal contractor if it has management or control of the site. There is only one at a time.; WHS Regulation s 293. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date; What the principal contractor owes, by state
Safe work method statement (SWMS): A document that must be prepared before high risk construction work starts. It identifies the high risk work, the hazards and risks, the control measures, and how those controls will be put in place, monitored and reviewed. The work must then be done in line with it.; State differences: Victoria also requires a SWMS for HRCW (OHS Regulations 2017), but WorkSafe Victoria says it need only be kept for the duration of the work.; WHS Regulation s 299 (definition in s 5). Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date; Check if your job needs a SWMS
WHS management plan: A written plan the principal contractor must prepare before work on a construction project starts. It sets out who has safety responsibilities, how PCBUs on site will consult, co-operate and co-ordinate, how risks and incidents will be managed, and the site safety rules.; State differences: Victoria differs: the equivalent is a health and safety co-ordination plan for projects of $350,000 or more.; WHS Regulation s 309 (definition in s 5). Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date; When you need one, by state
General construction induction training (white card): Basic construction safety training delivered by a registered training organisation, after which a worker can get a white card. A PCBU must not let a worker do construction work without it. The card does not expire, but it lapses if the holder does no construction work for 2 years.; State differences: Victoria calls it a construction induction card, issued by WorkSafe Victoria. Cards from other states are recognised.; WHS Regulation ss 5, 316, 317. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date; Record card numbers on the induction register
Site-specific induction: Not a defined term in the WHS Act or Regulation. It means telling workers and visitors about the hazards, rules, emergency procedures and facilities of a particular site. The duty comes from the primary duty to provide information, training and instruction, and the Construction Work Code calls it workplace specific induction training.; State differences: Victoria differs: OHS Regulations 2017 r 330 expressly requires site-specific training, with no housing exemption. In SA and Qld, site induction is not compulsory for housing construction work.; WHS Act s 19(3)(f); WHS Regulation s 39; Construction Work Code s 6.2. Safe Work Australia, Model Code of Practice: Construction Work (November 2024); Site induction requirements by state
Owner-builder: A state building licensing term, not a WHS term. In NSW, a person who does or supervises residential building work over $10,000 on their own home without a licensed builder needs an owner-builder permit and a white card. Owner-builders can still have WHS duties when they engage workers.; State differences: Victoria differs; not verified.; Home Building Act 1989 (NSW), as summarised by NSW Government (not verified against the Act itself). NSW Government, When an owner-builder permit is needed
Code of practice (approved code of practice): A practical guide approved by the Minister under the WHS Act. Codes are not law in themselves, but in a prosecution a court can treat an approved code as evidence of whether a duty was met and of what is reasonably practicable. You can comply another way if it is equally safe or safer.; State differences: Victoria differs: it uses compliance codes under OHS Act 2004 Part 12 (s 149 onwards).; WHS Act ss 274, 275. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date

Incidents

Notifiable incident: An incident you must report to the regulator straight away: the death of a person, a serious injury or illness of a person, or a dangerous incident. The duty sits with the PCBU, and the site must be preserved until an inspector arrives or gives a direction.; State differences: Victoria differs: OHS Act 2004 ss 37 and 38 use "incidents"; written notice is always required within 48 hours.; WHS Act s 35. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date; Is this a notifiable incident?
Serious injury or illness: An injury or illness that needs immediate treatment as a hospital in-patient, immediate treatment for listed injuries such as amputation, serious head, eye or burn injuries, degloving, spinal injury or serious lacerations, or medical treatment within 48 hours of exposure to a substance. Some work-related infections and zoonoses are also included.; State differences: Victoria differs: OHS Act 2004 s 37(1) lists electric shock and does not list serious burns.; WHS Act s 36; WHS Regulation s 699. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date; Check an incident
Dangerous incident: An incident that exposes someone to a serious risk from an immediate or imminent exposure to things like a gas or chemical escape, fire or explosion, electric shock, something falling from height, collapse of a structure, or an excavation or shoring failure. It is notifiable even if nobody is hurt.; State differences: Victoria has a similar list in OHS Act 2004 s 37(2).; WHS Act s 37. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date; Check an incident
Site preservation: After a notifiable incident, the person with management or control of the workplace must make sure the incident site, including plant and materials involved, is not disturbed until an inspector arrives or directs otherwise. You can still help the injured, remove a deceased person, or make the site safe.; State differences: Victoria has an equivalent duty in OHS Act 2004 s 39.; WHS Act s 39. Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), current version for 1 July 2026 to date

Hazards and controls

Hierarchy of controls: The required order for controlling risks. First eliminate the risk if reasonably practicable. If not, minimise it by substitution, isolation or engineering controls, then administrative controls for any remaining risk, and finally personal protective equipment. Combinations can be used where one control is not enough.; State differences: Victoria differs: a similar hierarchy appears in the OHS Regulations 2017; not verified today.; WHS Regulation ss 35, 36. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date; Free risk matrix
Hazardous chemical: A substance, mixture or article that meets the criteria for one or more hazard classes under the Globally Harmonised System (GHS), with some low level classes excluded. On building sites this covers many solvents, adhesives, fuels, sealants and cleaning products. Most come with a safety data sheet.; State differences: Victoria differs; not verified.; WHS Regulation s 5 (definition). Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date
Safety data sheet (SDS): A document prepared by the manufacturer or importer of a hazardous chemical describing its hazards and how to use, store and handle it safely. A PCBU must obtain the current SDS no later than when the chemical is first supplied for use at the workplace and make it available to workers.; State differences: Victoria differs; not verified.; WHS Regulation ss 5, 330, 344. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date
High risk work licence: A licence a person must hold to do certain classes of high risk work listed in Schedule 3, such as scaffolding over 4 metres, dogging and rigging, crane and hoist operation, forklift operation and elevating work platforms with a boom of 11 metres or more. It is personal to the operator.; State differences: Victoria also licenses high risk work under the OHS Regulations 2017; details not verified today.; WHS Regulation s 81; Schedule 3. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date
Asbestos register: A record kept at a workplace listing asbestos or asbestos containing material that has been identified or is likely to be present, with its date, location, type and condition. The person with management or control of the workplace must keep it, unless the building was built after 31 December 2003 and no asbestos is identified or likely.; State differences: Victoria differs; not verified.; WHS Regulation s 425. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date
Competent person: Defined in the WHS Regulation only for specific tasks, not as a general term. For example, for electrical work on energised equipment it means a person authorised under the Home Building Act 1989 to do electrical wiring work; other meanings apply to crane inspections, design verification and asbestos clearance inspections.; WHS Regulation s 5 (definition of competent person). Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW), current version for 3 July 2026 to date

On-site terms (not defined in law)

Toolbox talk: Not a legal term and not required by law. A short, regular on-site meeting where the builder or subbies share safety information and get feedback from workers. It is a practical way to consult and to deliver site-specific information. Safe Work Australia's Code recommends recording the topic, attendees and feedback.; No statutory definition; supports WHS Act ss 47 to 49 (consultation). Safe Work Australia, Model Code of Practice: Construction Work (November 2024); Free toolbox talk template
JSA / JSEA (job safety analysis): Not a legal term in the WHS Act or Regulation. A JSA or JSEA is an informal tool for breaking a task into steps and identifying hazards and controls. It is useful, but it is not a substitute for a SWMS where the work is high risk construction work, because only a SWMS is legally required.; No statutory definition; compare WHS Regulation s 299 (SWMS). WorkSafe Victoria, Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS)

General information, not legal advice. For your job, check with the regulator in your state or see site induction requirements by state.

Keep the paperwork these words describe in one place.

Foreman runs QR site inductions and the site diary for small builders, with SWMS and site documents attached to every job. Free on your first project.

Start free on your first job Book a demo