WA to adopt most of national OHS model

Commerce Minister Troy Buswell says WA will adopt the bulk of the proposed laws for a national occupational health and safety regime but will retain its own settings in some areas.

Mr Buswell told the Workplace Relations Ministerial Council (WRMC) that WA supported the principle of OHS harmonisation.

"WA has already agreed to the vast majority of recommendations for national harmonisation and is a strong supporter of maintaining a high level of workplace safety," Mr Buswell said.

"Areas where we are unlikely to introduce the model laws include changes to the level of penalties and right of entry; power for health and safety representatives to stop work; and reverse onus of proof for discrimination issues.

"We also have concerns about changes to Category 1 and 2 offences in the model laws proposed by Safe Work Australia and adopted today by the WRMC.

"WA has also indicated its willingness to participate in the Safe Work Australia framework but reserves its right not to adopt changes recommended by that process in the future."

Today's announcement is a turnaround from Mr Buswell's earlier position when he flagged the state would be unlikely to agree to join Safe Work Australia because of concerns about the union's preference for the scheme model.