Workplace health and safety (WHS) policy template
Published
Workplace health and safety (WHS) policy template
As a business, you have obligations and responsibilities to keep your team safe and healthy while they’re in the workplace. This means that as much as reasonably practicable, you need to make sure people are not put at risk while working.
That’s why building a work health and safety policy is crucial for your business. Create a safer, healthier workplace by implementing practical WHS procedures and policies. Download our fully customisable, printable version now.
What can you expect in the workplace health and safety policy template?
The objectives of this policy are to, as far as reasonably practicable:
- Achieve a safe and incident-free workplace
- Consider WHS in project planning and work activities
- Involve workers and contractors in the decision-making process through regular communication and consultation
- Ensure workers and subcontractors identify and control risks in the workplace
- Monitor and review the elimination or control of potential risks
- Enhance workers’ WHS knowledge through a program of education and training
Download your free template now.
What is a workplace health and safety policy?
A workplace health and safety (WHS) policy is an essential business document that outlines how your business protects the wellbeing of your people. On top of being a legal requirement, it provides clear guidance on how to reduce risks and hazards in the workplace, creating a safer and healthier environment for everyone.
How to build a workplace health and safety policy
Luckily for you, making sure your business manages your workplace obligations is what Employment Hero does best. With our Employment Operating System, you can access a range of policy templates readily available for your business to use.
Find out more by reaching out to our business specialist today.
When putting together a workplace health and safety policy, you need to consider the following things:
Assess potential risks and hazards
Even if you work in an office, there are still things that can go wrong (ever burnt your hand using the boiling water tap? We rest our case…).
You need to think through all those things that could go wrong and what the potential consequences could be. You should also consider how serious those consequences could be and the likelihood of this scenario playing out.
For example in the hospitality business, accidents in the workplace such as cuts and burns will occur a lot more regularly.
In construction, you have a lot of people working with very heavy tools and dangerous equipment on-site, which could cause heaps of health and safety risks if not used correctly.
Provide training and resources
Once you’ve identified the risks, you need to think about what you can reasonably do to prevent them from happening and then make those changes inside your business.
It might be introducing additional training, advice or resources related to WHS or putting up signs to constantly remind people to be vigilant.
Whatever it takes, keep trialling new methods to make sure your employees are safe at work.
Collect feedback from employees
Talking to your staff and asking for feedback on what they perceive as a safety risk is a good opportunity to understand your business better.
Encourage staff members to share their suggestions and brainstorm about how you can create a better working environment. You’ll also have people buy into your WHS policy before you even start.
How to implement your WHS policy
Introducing a workplace health and safety policy is a critical step in building a safe, productive and well-run workplace. We’ve put together a simple, easy to follow guide to help you handle every step, from communicating it with your team, rolling it out and documenting it.
Step 1: Communicate the policy with your team
Communication is the first port of call for implementing your new WHS policy. This makes sure that employees understand the importance of the WHS policy and their role in keeping and maintaining a safe workplace.
Here’s a few things to remember when communicating with your WHS policy with your team:
- Announce the policy to your team: Introduce the WHS policy during an all-hands meeting or through a company-wide message. Be sure to point out its purpose, the benefits and how it aligns with your commitment to keeping everyone safe at work.
- Provide access: Share the WHS policy with your team by uploading it to an accessible location. This could be your company intranet or HR platform (like Employment Hero). If you’re managing hard copies, you can print and distribute copies for your team.
- Invite questions: Set up dedicated training sessions to get employees up to speed on the policy. This is a great opportunity to address any questions about the policy, processes and responsibilities.
Step 2: Roll out your new WHS policy
Think of your WHS policy as more than just a document. You should embed into your workplace culture and everyday operations, so everyone is engaged and committed to safety. You want everyone to be aware of the importance of staying safe in the workplace and the role they play in it.
- Train leaders and supervisors: Educate your managers and supervisors first, so they can lead by example and guide their teams. Highlight their role in enforcing and monitoring compliance with the WHS policy.
- Conduct training specific for different teams: Provide tailored training for different teams based on specific workplace hazards they may encounter. For remote teams, make sure the policy extends to home offices using resources like the working from home WHS checklist.
- Embed workplace safety into your culture: Building a true culture of safety means making it part of everyday work. By weaving safety principles into your daily processes, you create a workplace where safe practices become second nature.
- Introduce regular safety briefings: Establish routine check-ins or catchups to update employees on new risks in the workplace or any changes to the policy.
Step 3: Document policy rollout
Proper documentation can give you compliance peace of mind, while covering your employer obligations come audit or inspection time. Here are a few things to remember when managing your document:
- Keep employee records: Keep records of employees’ receiving and understanding the policy, whether through signed forms or digital acknowledgements. (Hint: Employment Hero can help with this)
- Document employee training attendance: Keep note of employee attendance at training sessions and share around training documents afterwards for your team to easily refer back to.
- Conduct compliance reviews regularly: Schedule periodic safety check-ins to review the policy in practice and identify areas that may require any changes.
Step 4: Create a culture where your team are empowered to celebrate safety in the workplace
When you have a team that understands and prioritises safety in the workplace, you’ll start to see it become engrained in your culture.
- Encourage constant feedback: Empower your employees to share their experiences or suggest improvements to your WHS policy.
- Reward and recognise key contributors: Personally celebrate people or teams who demonstrate exceptional adherence to your WHS processes.
Successfully implementing a winning WHS policy requires clear communication with your team, a step-by-step rollout plan and proper documentation. By following these steps, you’ll foster a workplace that embraces safety, protects your team while fulfilling your employer obligations.
How to measure the success of your WHS policy
Tracking the effectiveness of your new WHS policy is critical to a safer workplace. To track effectiveness and success, consider keeping track of these metrics:
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Incident rates: Monitor accidents, near-misses and injuries.
- Employee training completion: Track how many employees have completed WHS training.
- Absenteeism & return-to-work rates: Review trends in injury-related leave and the time-frame between employees returning to work.
- Hazard reporting: Track hazards logged by employees and make a plan to fix them.
- Employee feedback: Use surveys to gauge how safe employees feel when they’re at work.
How do you manage a WHS incident?
Despite your best efforts, accidents can and do still happen. With that in mind, you should also include in your health and safety policy what to do if there is an incident or accident at work.
This will ensure if the worst case does arise, everyone is prepared on what to do.
You will need to specify:
- What immediate actions should take place;
- Who in the business needs to be notified and when;
- If/when you need to notify SafeWork (if appropriate).
You should also have a process on how employees can record incidents. You should regularly review these events to make sure the workplace remains safe.
What to do after a WHS Incident?
Responding effectively to a safety incident at work can help keep your people and business safe. Here’s a process to follow:
Your immediate response
- Attend to any injured employees and provide first-aid. Call emergency services if needed.
- Evacuate or secure the area to prevent further harm.
Reporting the safety incident
- Notify your manager, workplace safety officer or designated health and safety representative if you have one.
- Certain serious incidents (e.g. death or serious injury) must be reported to your work health and safety regulator in your local jurisdiction within specific timeframes.
- In New South Wales, the WHS regulator is SafeWork NSW
- In Victoria, the WHS regulator is WorkSafe Victoria
- In Queensland, the WHS regulator is Workplace Health and Safety Queensland
- In South Australia, the WHS regulator is SafeWork SA
- In Western Australia, the WHS regulator is WorkSafe WA
- In Tasmania, the WHS regulator is WorkSafe Tasmania
- In the Northern Territory, the WHS regulator is NT WorkSafe
- In the ACT, the WHS regulator is WorkSafe ACT
Manage record keeping
- Document what happened, who was involved and any contributing factors to the safety incident.
- Include witness statements, photos and relevant workplace conditions.
Launch an investigation
- Identify the cause of the safety hazard and any contributing factors to the incident.
- Engage key employees and relevant stakeholders in the investigation.
- Create a plan to take actions to prevent it occurring again.
Update policies and other employee documents
- Update policies, procedures, training and equipment regularly and as needed.
- Prioritise informing staff of any changes and making sure they understand any new safety measures.
Review regularly and support your team
- Follow up and report regularly to confirm that the new actions are effective.
- Track incident trends through your KPIs or WHS reporting tool.
- Provide support to employees affected by the incident, such as counselling, access to your employee assistance program (EAP) or return-to-work program.
Using risk assessment tools to identify hazards
Effectively identifying and managing workplace hazards is arguably the most important part of maintaining a safe environment for your employees. Risk assessment tools can play an important role in this process by systematically evaluating potential risks and outlining control measures.
Common risk assessment tools
- Risk matrix: A risk matrix visually prioritises hazards by assessing their likelihood of occurrence and their potential impact. This helps businesses focus on addressing high-risk issues first.
- Job safety analysis (JSA): A JSA breaks individual tasks into steps, identifying risks at each stage and recommending specific safety precautions to reduce them.
- Safe work method statements (SWMS): A SWMS is a safety planning document required for any work classified as high-risk construction.
Managing mental health in the workplace
Your business also has an obligation to take care of the mental health of your staff as far as practically possible. This includes preventing bullying, harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Consider downloading our workplace bullying and harassment policy template to help your business prevent bullying, promote respectful relationships and support a safe, positive workplace for everyone.
We would recommend sending a clear message that these behaviours won’t be tolerated in the workplace by having separate policies to deal with bullying, harassment and discrimination. You should also include a contact person to bring these issues up with confidentiality if you don’t have a dedicated HR manager inside your business.
Our Wellness at Work Report revealed key insights into how employees are really experiencing wellbeing at work.
- 66% of employees have felt burnt out in the past 3 months due to work.
- 41% of Aussies feel uncomfortable talking to their manager about their mental health and wellness concerns.
- 85% of Australians are experiencing stress at least a few times a month or more.
- Over half of Gen Z are taking stress leave due to burnout, compared to one in five Boomers.
Supporting mental health in the workplace
Supporting employee mental health at work is the key to building a thriving, productive and loyal team.
By offering an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), you can give your people access to confidential counselling and professional support when they need it most.
Pair this with mental health training for managers to help spot the signs of poor mental health and empower your team to have supportive conversations early.
Finally, consider flexible work options. Remote work and adjusted hours can help reduce stress and create better work-life balance. Together, these steps help build a healthier, more engaged and resilient workforce.
How often should you review your WHS policy?
Once you’ve got your WHS policy in place, make sure you review it regularly.
Workplace health and safety isn’t a set-and-forget activity. You should continuously be reassessing the risks that are involved in your business and coming up with new strategies to help make the workplace as safe as possible.
What are the laws around WHS?
Safe Work Australia is the national policy body, tasked with improving health and safety at work in all states and territories. Their role isn’t to regulate WHS laws, but work to improve workplace health and safety through creating healthier, safer and more productive workplaces.
At a jurisdictional level, each state and territory has their own set of laws, regulators and codes who work with their community to reduce work-related accidents, illnesses and injuries.
We’ve broken down everything you need to know state-by-state.
WHS roles and responsibilities
WHS is a shared responsibility and everyone in the workplace has to do their part to ensure a safe work environment. Whether you’re a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) like an employer, an officer such as a business owner or CEO, or a worker in the workplace, you all share responsibility for creating a safe environment. It’s important to note that a person can have more than one duty under the model WHS laws.
Role and responsibilities of a PCBU
They have the primary duty of care to keep workers safe while they’re at work, as well as others who could be affected by that work.
What counts as a PCBU can vary depending on the situation. In most cases:
- A business is usually set up to make a profit and operates with some level of organisation, systems and continuity.
- An undertaking also has structure and systems, but often isn’t profit-making or commercial in nature.
Some examples include a retailer, wholesalers, manufacturer, self-employed person operating their own business, local council and school.
Officer duties
An officer is someone who makes or helps make, the big decisions that shape a business. They also have the power to significantly influence its financial position. In small businesses, this usually means the owner or operator.
Officers must exercise due diligence to make sure the business is meeting its WHS obligations under the model WHS laws. If they don’t, they can be held personally accountable.
Worker
A worker is classified as anyone carrying out work for a business. This could be an employee, contractor, apprentice, volunteer or even someone on work-experience.
While at work, workers must take reasonable care of their own health and safety, as well as the safety of others. They’re also expected to follow reasonable instructions and cooperate with workplace policies and procedures that support a safe environment.
Learn more from Safework Australia.
How Employment Hero can help
Managing workplace health and safety doesn’t have to be complicated. In Employment Hero you’ll have access to a suite of workplace templates, carefully reviewed by our employment specialists to keep your business aligned with the latest legislation. Not ready to start an account yet? You can still download our workplace health and safety policy for free and start putting strong safety practices in place today.
The information in this article is current as at 30 August 2025, and has been prepared by Employment Hero Pty Ltd (ABN 11 160 047 709) and its related bodies corporate (Employment Hero). The views expressed in this article are general information only, are provided in good faith to assist employers and their employees, and should not be relied on as professional advice. Some information is based on data supplied by third parties. While such data is believed to be accurate, it has not been independently verified and no warranties are given that it is complete, accurate, up to date or fit for the purpose for which it is required. Employment Hero does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracy in such data and is not liable for any loss or damages arising directly or indirectly as a result of reliance on, use of or inability to use any information provided in this article. You should undertake your own research and seek professional advice before making any decisions or relying on the information in this article.
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