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Award coverage for workplace, health and safety officers

Workplace health and safety (WHS) officers, also called Environmental, health and safety (EHS) officers or Occupational health and safety (OHS) officers inspect, assess, and monitor work health and safety in workplaces. They may also develop WHS policies, lead toolbox meetings or provide WHS education.

Industry award coverage

An industry award will cover a WHS officer if:

their employer operates in the industry defined in the award
there’s a classification which matches the employee’s duties and qualifications.

For example, a WHS officer may be covered by an industry award, including the:

Electrical Power Award
Black Coal Award
Gas Award
Mining Award
Health Services Award
Manufacturing Award

No industry award coverage

Where there’s no industry award covering WHS officers, the employee might be:

covered by an occupational award, such as the Clerks Award
covered by the Miscellaneous Award, or
award free.

Occupational award coverage

An occupational award can cover a WHS officer if:

the award covers the work they do
there's a classification which matches the employee’s duties and qualifications.

Clerks Award

The Clerks Award may cover a WHS officer if their role is mainly clerical and administrative.

The employee’s classification depends on their skills, qualifications, and responsibilities.

For example, employees who mainly develop WHS procedures and policies for an employer can be covered by the Clerks Award.

Miscellaneous Award

The Miscellaneous Award can cover WHS officers, and they’ll be classified based on their duties and qualifications.

The award doesn’t cover a managerial employee or professional employee. An employee may be considered a professional employee if their role requires a degree qualification, for example, a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy.