6.2 What is legislative responsibility and what are laws?
All organisations need rules to function. All societies can be regarded as complex organisations and, as such, will need a variety of rules to control their activities. Legislation and laws are those rules that provide people with the guidelines they need to be able to live together in a civilized manner.
Laws are devised nationally and within each State and Territory of Australia to protect people from occupational injury and disease. Workplace or occupational health and safety laws apply to everyone, in every workplace.
In Australia , as in many other countries, our rules or laws are made up of two basic types:
- Common Law
- Statute Law.
The combination of these two types of law comprises the Australian legal system. In some instances common law may be applied, while in other instances statute law may be used to administer justice. Together these laws ensure that every person, in every workplace, has a right to be protected and to be involved in devising and discussing health and safety. Penalties exist to ensure that all employees can exercise this right. However, the common and statute laws cover and protect different dimensions of occupational health and safety.