tas-whs-act-checker

Tasmanian WHS Act 2012 — Complete Reference

Purpose

This skill provides the complete verified text of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (Tas), extracted directly from the official Tasmanian legislation (current as at 1 July 2025). It ensures Claude cites accurate section numbers, provisions, and requirements when producing WHS compliance analyses, duty analyses, management system documentation, and other WHS content for Tasmanian operations.

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 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (Tas)" or "ss 35–39" 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 tas-whs-regulation-checker skill) prescribes specific technical requirements and standards.
7. Jurisdiction note: This is Tasmanian legislation (not Queensland). The Tasmanian WHS Act 2012 is based on the model WHS Act but contains Tasmania-specific provisions (e.g. industrial manslaughter under Division 4A ss 29A–29D, WorkCover Tasmania Board under Schedule 2).

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 1–12	Definitions (worker, PCBU, workplace, supply), object of Act, application, Act binds the Crown
parts/pt02-duties.md	Part 2 — Health and Safety Duties	ss 13–34	Primary duty of care (s 19), duty re management/control of workplaces (s 20), fixtures/fittings/plant (s 21), design/manufacture/supply duties (ss 22–26), officer duties (s 27), worker duties (s 28), other persons (s 29), industrial manslaughter (ss 29A–29D), offence categories 1–3 and penalties (ss 31–33)
parts/pt03-incident-notification.md	Part 3 — Incident Notification	ss 35–39	Notifiable incidents (s 35), serious injury or illness (s 36), dangerous incidents (s 37), duty to notify (s 38), duty to preserve incident sites (s 39)
parts/pt04-authorisations.md	Part 4 — Authorisations	ss 40–45	Meaning of authorised, requirements for authorisation of workplaces, plant, substance, work, prescribed qualifications
parts/pt05-consultation.md	Part 5 — Consultation, Representation and Participation	ss 46–103	Duty to consult duty holders (s 46), duty to consult workers (s 47), nature of consultation (s 48), when consultation required (s 49), HSR election/powers/functions (ss 50–74), health and safety committees (ss 75–79), issue resolution (ss 80–82), right to cease unsafe work (ss 83–89), provisional improvement notices (ss 90–102), prisoners exclusion (s 103)
parts/pt06-discriminatory-conduct.md	Part 6 — Discriminatory, Coercive and Misleading Conduct	ss 104–115	Prohibition on adverse action for WHS reasons, criminal and civil proceedings, remedies
parts/pt07-workplace-entry.md	Part 7 — Workplace Entry by WHS Entry Permit Holders	ss 116–151	Entry to inquire into contraventions, consult and advise workers, WHS entry permits, disputes, prohibitions
parts/pt08-regulator.md	Part 8 — The Regulator	ss 152–155	Functions and powers of regulator, delegation, powers to obtain information
parts/pt09-securing-compliance.md	Part 9 — Securing Compliance	ss 156–190	Inspector appointment and powers, powers of entry, search warrants, seizure, damage compensation, offences re inspectors
parts/pt10-enforcement.md	Part 10 — Enforcement Measures	ss 191–215	Improvement notices (ss 191–194), prohibition notices (ss 195–197), non-disturbance notices (ss 198–201), general notice requirements (ss 202–210), remedial action (ss 211–213), injunctions (ss 214–215)
parts/pt11-undertakings.md	Part 11 — Enforceable Undertakings	ss 216–222	WHS undertakings — acceptance, enforceability, compliance, contravention, withdrawal
parts/pt12-review.md	Part 12 — Review of Decisions	ss 223–229	Reviewable decisions, internal review, external review
parts/pt13-legal-proceedings.md	Part 13 — Legal Proceedings	ss 230–267	Prosecutions, limitation periods, sentencing, adverse publicity orders, infringement notices, WHS civil penalty provisions, the Crown, public authorities
parts/pt14-general.md	Part 14 — General	ss 268–277	General provisions (false information, confidentiality, no contracting out), approved codes of practice (ss 274–275), regulation-making powers, administration
parts/schedules.md	Schedules 1–3	—	Schedule 1 (application to dangerous goods and high risk plant), Schedule 2 (local tripartite consultation, WorkCover Tasmania Board), Schedule 3 (regulation-making powers)

Workflow

1. Identify the subject matter from the user's query
2. Read the relevant part file(s) using the Read tool — read only what is needed
3. Cite provisions accurately from the extracted text
4. Cross-reference with Regulation where appropriate (e.g. s 19 primary 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 tas-whs-regulation-checker skill

Common Query Routing

Query Topic	Primary Part(s)	Key Sections
PCBU duty of care	Part 2	s 19 (primary duty), s 17 (management of risks), s 18 (reasonably practicable)
Officer due diligence	Part 2	s 27
Worker obligations	Part 2	s 28
Penalties / offence categories	Part 2	ss 31–33 (Cat 1–3), ss 29A–29D (industrial manslaughter)
Incident notification	Part 3	ss 35–39
Consultation obligations	Part 5	ss 46–49
HSR powers and functions	Part 5	ss 50–74
Health and safety committees	Part 5	ss 75–79
Right to cease unsafe work	Part 5	ss 83–89
Provisional improvement notices	Part 5	ss 90–102
Inspector powers / notices	Part 9	ss 156–190
Improvement notices	Part 10	ss 191–194
Prohibition notices	Part 10	ss 195–197
Codes of practice (legal status)	Part 14	ss 274–275
Definitions / interpretation	Part 1	ss 4–9
Reasonably practicable	Part 2	s 18
Industrial manslaughter	Part 2	ss 29A–29D

Key Differences from Queensland WHS Act 2011

• Industrial manslaughter is under Division 4A of Part 2 (ss 29A–29D), not a separate Part 2A
• No separate WHS Officers Part (no Part 5A equivalent — Tasmania does not have dedicated WHS officers provisions)
• Part 5 does not exclude prisoners as a separate division in the same way
• Regulator is WorkSafe Tasmania (administered under the WorkCover Tasmania Board, Schedule 2)
• External review is to the Magistrates Court (not QCAT)
• Section numbering differs slightly throughout due to the Act's Tasmania-specific structure

Version Information

• WHS Act 2012 (Tas): Current as at 1 July 2025
• Source: Tasmanian Legislation website, authorised by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel (K Woodward)
• Extraction method: Full text extracted from official PDF using PyMuPDF, with page headers/footers removed

Note: This skill covers the WHS Act only. For specific technical requirements (workplace exposure standards, noise limits, silica controls, asbestos removal requirements, etc.), consult the companion tas-whs-regulation-checker skill covering the WHS Regulations 2022 (Tas). Legislation is subject to amendment; for critical compliance decisions, verify current provisions at https://www.legislation.tas.gov.au/