The vision of consistent occupational health and safety (OHS) laws across the nation is in doubt, with WA and Victoria resisting the push to adopt harmonised laws.

The WA Government has long-standing objections to the OHS harmonisation as proposed, and this month the Victorian Government released a consultants’ report that said it would cost business more than $3 billion to implement the legislation.

The result is a “halfway house”. The model Work Health and Safety Act under which the states’ and territories’ OHS laws mirror each other came into effect on January 1 for the Commonwealth, NSW, Queensland, the ACT and Northern Territory.

The Tasmanian Government plans to put the law into effect on January 1 next year and SA’s Parliament is still debating the Act.

The situation – with some states in and others out – means employers with cross-border operations re still dealing with different legislation.

Mallesons’ Partner Murray Kellock says WA is unlikely to join a national system without changes, but the Victorian Government’s objections seem odd given Victoria’s laws most closely mirror the harmonised model legislation.

“It is going to be very problematic from the point of view of employers with national operations if these two states don’t adopt the new laws,” Mr Kellock told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“The whole point is to make it easier for these employers, to reduce their regulatory burden and cost.”

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu says the reform does not deliver on the agreement from the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), under which OHS harmonisation is intended to reduce the cost of regulation and enhance productivity and workforce mobility.

Victoria commissioned a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), which found it would cost the state $812 million in transition costs to the new model plus $587 million a year in the first five years.

Mr Baillieu says small business would bear most of the costs.

The move to harmonisation began in 2008 when COAG committed to nationally consistent OHS legislation to reduce business costs.

The Federal Government has said harmonisation could bring productivity improvements of $2 billion a year and deliver safer workplaces.

COAG agreed this month that the laws will be reviewed at the end of 2014.

WA has drafted its own Work Health and Safety Bill that mirrors much of the national Act and which applies to industry generally. Another bill specific to the mining industry is being drafted.

The WA Government objects to penalties in the model act, which are significantly above those applying in WA, and to provisions relating to union right of entry, capacity of health and safety representatives to direct people to stop work, and reverse onus of proof.

Although the Victorian Government has agreed in principle to OHS harmonisation, it says there has to be a net benefit to employers.

The PWC report it commissioned says SMEs will feel most of the impact of the transition.

“As SMEs are unlikely to have a dedicated OHS officer, they may need to seek external advice in order to be able to understand their obligations, which will add to costs in the short term,” it says.

“SMEs tend to operate only within one jurisdiction and so will be less likely to be able to benefit from any cost savings from cross-jurisdictional harmonisation.”

The report identifies 20 major differences between Victorian law and the proposed model law, including an extended definition of confined spaces, changes associated with officer liability, removal of a two-metre threshold for falls and the extended definition of a worker.

The dream of a harmonised law to eliminate the situation where national companies must employ vast numbers of OHS experts to deal with dissimilar laws is in danger of becoming a partial solution, at best.