Nominated WHS roles

Last updated

22 March 2023

There are four WHS roles within each parliamentarian’s Commonwealth-funded office:

WHS Site Officer
First Aid Officer
Emergency Officer
Deputy Emergency Officer.

These roles assist parliamentarians, MOP(S) Act employees and Finance to meet their duties under the WHS Act.

For roles and responsibilities for each WHS role see related resources.

The following table sets out which WHS roles are required in each of the parliamentarians’ offices.

WHS role	Offices outside of Commonwealth Parliament Offices and Parliament House			Parliament House Office	Offices within Commonwealth Parliament Offices
	Electorate Office(s)	Ministerial Office	Capital city office
WHS Site Officer	Required	Required	Required	Required Only in ministerial wing or where an employee is permanently located in an office	Required
First Aid Officer	Required	Required	Required	Not required Function performed by DPS through nurses’ station & security guards	Required
Emergency Officer	Required	Required	Required	Not required Function performed by DPS	Required
Deputy Emergency Officer	Required	Required	Required	Not required Function performed by DPS	Required

MOP(S) Act employees nominated to perform these roles should ensure that they complete their required training as soon as practicable and carry out the duties and obligations of their role.

Nominations

Please submit your WHS role nomination/s via the online form found here Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) roles nomination for Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplace’s (workplace).

Training

Training is provided to MOP(S) Act employees who are nominated for each WHS role. MaPS will contact nominated employees and provide details on how to access training. Further details are available on the WHS role training page.

Corporate Responsibility Allowance

WHS Site Officers, First Aid Officers and Emergency Officers will receive corporate responsibility allowance (CRA) (see related resources) once they have completed their training.

Work health and safety and first aid supplies

Items on the work health and safety and first aid supply list (see related resources) should be ordered directly through the contracted office requisites and stationery provider. Emergency Officers can order hard hats via the contracted office requisites and stationery provider.

Officer Duties under the WHS Act

A WHS Officer in a parliamentarians office, such as a WHS Site Officer, First Aid Officer or Emergency Officer, is unlikely to be an Officer for the purposes of the WHS Act, unless they participate in making decisions within their office in another capacity (for example, as a Chief of Staff).