As small businesses continue to struggle with high operational and living costs, there are calls to make at least one running cost free with concerns safety may be compromised to reduce spending.

Standards are the guidelines, procedures, and specifications which help businesses stay safe, consistent, and reliable. Many are referred to in legislation and therefore must be followed and are not optional. According to Safe Work Australia: “Where the WHS [Workplace Health and Safety] laws say you must conform to specific Standards, a failure to do so may result in a breach of the WHS laws”.

Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS) Chair, Cameron Montgomery, said the issue is that businesses are forced to pay to access the Standards relevant to them.

“Businesses must pay hundreds of dollars a year to access a selection of Standards, and as businesses grapple with inflation and other financial pressures, we are concerned this is a cost some will forgo, potentially compromising safety,” Mr Montgomery said.

This National Safe Work Month (October 2024), the AIHS is calling for key Standards to be made available for free. Currently, there are 17 Australian Standards referenced in the Model WHS Regulations which must be purchased, but there may be dozens more in State-based legislation.

“These documents are crucial to ensuring workplaces are safe and productive. Any Standards referred to in legislation should not sit behind a paywall, and should be freely available to those tasked with adhering to them in order to keep workplaces safe,” Mr Montgomery said.

“These Standards cover an array of areas, such as respiratory protective devices, identifying asbestos, electrical installations at construction and demolition sites, and occupational health and safety management systems.

“Free access to Standards is something our members ask for, and would help to reduce the regulatory burden faced by business owners and safety professionals. Much of the original pricing was set based on the number of physical pages printed, but nowadays, Standards are distributed digitally via PDF or to mobile devices. At a minimum, costs should be reduced to reflect that.”

Mr Montgomery said a precedent for cutting costs was set last year when several Standards were made free of charge – but they did not relate to commercial use so were irrelevant to businesses.

“It’s not just business owners impacted by these costs. For Health and Safety professionals, accessing the necessary Standards across industries and jurisdictions can be a significant cost burden to maintain current knowledge,” he said.

“It’s time these costs were removed to help businesses meet their obligations to operate safely and productively without having to be further out of pocket.”

Standards are reviewed and upheld on a voluntary basis, and the AIHS is proud to have representatives on 30 Standard Committees.