Under the Federal Aged Care Act all parties to a facility development are obliged to identify Access and OHS hazards prior to design and where possible, ‘design out’ hazards and barriers to access.

A person who designs a building has a duty to ensure that it is designed to be safe and without risk to health when the building or structure is used for the purpose for which it was designed.

ASCC General Duties of Care for OHS 2007 S19.

Previously, ‘design’ referred to the Architectural work.  Now: ‘design’ means the chain of decisions and actions that affects the project outcome.  The intent of this change is to encourage the entire project teams to give greater consideration to the end user and construct safe work environments.

The changes will provide greater indemnity for owners and workers compensation utilities, importantly however; it means that builders must take on greater responsibility for variations made during construction and consider the potential for an OHS claim arising from what seemed like a good idea at the time.

WorkCover maintains that ‘designing out hazards’ can reduce the risk of injury and illness, improve productivity and further reduce claims for compensation.  The changes apportion clear and appropriate legal responsibilities for all parties in the construction industry.