ohs-act-checker-vic

Victorian OHS Act 2004 — Complete Reference

Purpose

This skill provides the complete verified text of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic), extracted directly from the official Victorian legislation (current as at 6 August 2025). It ensures Claude cites accurate section numbers, provisions, and requirements when producing occupational health and safety reports, compliance analyses, duty analyses, and OHS documentation for Victorian jurisdictions.

Critical Rules

1. Only cite provisions that appear in the part files. Never fabricate or assume section numbers or content.
2. Citation format: Use "s [number]" for individual sections, e.g. "s 20 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic)" or "ss 35–35A" for a range.
3. Use conservative, factual language when describing legislative obligations. Avoid subjective terms — describe what the Act requires in objective terms.
4. Always use Australian English spelling (e.g. behaviour, organisation, colour, defence, licence [noun]).
5. If a provision cannot be located in these files, state that the specific section should be verified against the current legislation and indicate which Part it is likely found in.
6. Distinguish between the Act and the Regulation. The Act establishes duties, offences, and enforcement powers. The Regulation (covered by the separate ohs-regulation-checker-vic skill) prescribes specific technical requirements and standards.
7. Victorian terminology: Use 'employer' instead of 'PCBU', 'employee' instead of 'worker', and 'WorkSafe Victoria' as the statutory authority. Victoria's OHS regime predates and differs from the harmonised WHS model used in QLD, NSW, and TAS.

Part Index

Read the relevant part file(s) based on the subject matter of the query:

File	Part	Key Sections	When to Read
parts/pt01-preliminary.md	Part 1 — Preliminary	ss 1–6	Definitions (employer, employee, workplace), object of Act, application
parts/pt02-authority.md	Part 2 — The Authority	ss 7–19	WorkSafe Victoria establishment, functions, powers, appointment of inspectors
parts/pt03-duties.md	Part 3 — General duties relating to health and safety	ss 20–34	Employer duty of care (s 20), duty to consult (s 20), design/manufacture/supply duties (ss 23–27), employee duties (s 28), offence categories and penalties (ss 31–33)
parts/pt04-consultation.md	Part 4 — Duty of employers to consult	ss 35–35A	Consultation on changes affecting health and safety
parts/pt05-incidents.md	Part 5 — Duties relating to incidents	ss 37–39	Notifiable incidents (s 37), serious injury or illness (s 37), duty to notify (s 38), duty to preserve incident sites (s 39)
parts/pt05a-manslaughter.md	Part 5A — Workplace manslaughter	ss 39A–39G	Workplace manslaughter offences for employers (s 39D) and senior managers (s 39E), alternative offences
parts/pt06-licences.md	Part 6 — Licences, registration, permits and other requirements	ss 40–42	Licence/permit requirements for certain work types
parts/pt07-representation.md	Part 7 — Representation of employees	ss 43–78	Health and safety representative election/powers/functions, health and safety committees, issue resolution, right to cease unsafe work (ss 68–74)
parts/pt08-authorised-reps.md	Part 8 — Authorised representatives of registered employee organisations	ss 79–110	Powers and functions of union-appointed authorised representatives
parts/pt09-inspectors.md	Part 9 — Inspectors and enforcement	ss 111–126	Inspector powers (s 112 et seq.), investigation authority, evidence gathering, workplace entry
parts/pt09a-consultative.md	Part 9A — Workplace Incidents Consultative Committee	ss 126A–126D	WICC establishment and functions
parts/pt10-review.md	Part 10 — Review of decisions	ss 127–155	Internal review and external review mechanisms
parts/pt11-legal.md	Part 11 — Legal proceedings	ss 156–179	Prosecutions, offences and penalties, limitation periods, sentencing principles, adverse publicity orders
parts/pt11a-insurance.md	Part 11A — Insurance and indemnity for pecuniary penalties prohibited	ss 180–182	Prohibition on insurance against OHS penalties
parts/pt12-compliance-codes.md	Part 12 — Compliance codes	ss 183–190	Codes of practice, approval, legal status, application
parts/pt13-other.md	Part 13 — Other matters	ss 191–225	Powers of regulation, approved forms, transitional matters
parts/pt14-repeal.md	Part 14 — Repeal of old Act and transitional provisions	ss 226–245	Repeal of previous occupational health and safety legislation and transitional arrangements
parts/pt15-transitional.md	Part 15 — Transitional provisions	ss 246–295 + Schedule	Transitional provisions and schedules

Workflow

1. Identify the subject matter from the user's query
2. Read the relevant part file(s) using the view tool — read only what is needed
3. Cite provisions accurately from the extracted text
4. Cross-reference with Regulation where appropriate (e.g. s 20 employer duty + specific regulation requirements)
5. Flag any gaps — if the query requires Regulation provisions (not covered in this skill), note this and refer to the ohs-regulation-checker-vic skill

Common Query Routing

Query Topic	Primary Part(s)	Key Sections
Employer duty of care	Part 3	s 20
Consultation obligations	Parts 3–4	ss 20, 35–35A
Notifiable incidents	Part 5	ss 37–39
Workplace manslaughter	Part 5A	ss 39A–39G
Health and safety representatives	Part 7	ss 43–78
Right to cease unsafe work	Part 7	ss 68–74
Inspector powers / enforcement	Part 9	ss 111–126
Offences and penalties	Part 3 + Part 11	ss 31–33 (Part 3), ss 156–179 (Part 11)
Codes of practice (legal status)	Part 12	ss 183–190
Definitions / dictionary	Part 1	ss 1–6
Licence/permit requirements	Part 6	ss 40–42

Key Differences from Harmonised WHS States (QLD, NSW, TAS)

Victoria's OHS Act 2004 predates the harmonised Work Health and Safety legislation by several years and uses different terminology and structure:

Aspect	Harmonised States (QLD, NSW, TAS)	Victoria (OHS Act 2004)
Primary duty holder	PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking)	Employer
Worker terminology	Worker	Employee
Primary duty section	s 19 (WHS Act)	s 20 (OHS Act)
Offence categories	Category 1 (reckless), Category 2 (negligent), Category 3 (failure to comply)	Offences with tiered penalties depending on severity
Regulator	SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Tasmania, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland	WorkSafe Victoria
Consultation mechanism	SS HSRs with defined powers	Health and safety representatives + committees
Right to cease work	ss 84–88 (WHS Act)	ss 68–74 (OHS Act)
Manslaughter provisions	Part 2A (Industrial Manslaughter)	Part 5A (Workplace Manslaughter)

Version Information

• OHS Act 2004 (Vic): Version No. 045, incorporating amendments as at 6 August 2025
• Source: Victorian Legislation website, authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel's Office
• Extraction method: Full text extracted from official Word document, with formatting preserved

Note: This skill covers the OHS Act 2004 (Vic) only. For specific technical requirements (workplace exposure standards, noise limits, silica controls, confined space procedures, construction site requirements, etc.), consult the companion ohs-regulation-checker-vic skill covering the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic). Legislation is subject to amendment; for critical compliance decisions, verify current provisions at https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/