It is the responsibility of building owners and strata companies to guarantee the safety of the shared property, creating a secure space for workers (including those performing maintenance or repairs), tenants, owners, and any visitors from the public.
Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA), a strata company is often likely to be a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) with specific responsibilities to ensure the safety of the strata building. Where the strata company may not be a PCBU, a strata management firm will always be a said PCBU.
Section 19 indicates that “a person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of –
- workers engaged, or caused to be engaged, by the person; and (CoO or Strata manager)
- workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the person, (CoO or Strata manager)
while the workers are at work in the business or undertaking”.
It is imperative that strata companies and managers engage a qualified and experienced company, such as Solutions in Engineering, to ensure compliance with the relevant work health and safety regulations, and the applicable Australian Standards. To show that as a manager and as a Council of Owners you have fulfilled your duties under the WHS Act, each of your strata schemes should be getting a safety report completed each year!