WHS Basics for Security Officers (Australia): Lessons 2026

Lesson 1: WHS laws across Australia

Most of Australia uses the model WHS laws developed by Safe Work Australia. They have three parts: an Act that sets the main duties, Regulations with detailed rules, and Codes of Practice, which are practical guides that take legal effect once a state or territory approves them.

Victoria has its own law, the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, with the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017. It mostly talks about employers and employees rather than PCBUs and workers, but the ideas are similar. WorkSafe Victoria enforces it.

Who enforces the law

Safe Work Australia writes model laws and guidance, but it is not a regulator. Each state and territory has its own regulator that inspects workplaces and enforces the law, for example SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria, SafeWork SA and NT WorkSafe. Contact the regulator in the state where you work.

Lesson 2: Who has duties

The main duty holder is the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), such as your security company. Under section 19 of the model WHS Act, a PCBU must ensure the health and safety of workers so far as is reasonably practicable. This covers workers it engages and also workers whose work it influences or directs.

That matters in security. If your company posts you at a client's shopping centre and the centre manager directs your daily work, both businesses can owe you duties. Know who to call at each business if something at your post is unsafe.

Other duty holders

• Officers (s 27): people who make significant decisions for the business, such as the owner of a small business. They must exercise due diligence.
• Workers (s 28): employees, contractors, labour hire staff and volunteers. They must take reasonable care for their own health and safety, take reasonable care that their acts or omissions do not harm others, follow reasonable instructions and co-operate with reasonable policies.
• Other people at the workplace (s 29): shoppers and visitors must take reasonable care and follow reasonable instructions so far as they can.

PCBUs must also consult workers on health and safety (s 47). Many workplaces also have health and safety representatives (HSRs) who speak for workers.

Lesson 3: Hazards on a security post

A hazard is anything that could cause harm. When choosing how to control one, use the hierarchy of controls, from most to least effective:

1. Elimination: get rid of the hazard.
2. Substitution: replace it with something safer.
3. Isolation: keep people away from it.
4. Engineering controls: change the equipment or layout.
5. Administrative controls: signs, procedures, training and supervision.
6. Personal protective equipment (PPE): used last, if risk remains.

Remote or isolated work

SafeWork NSW describes remote or isolated work as work where, because of the location, time or nature of the work, you cannot get immediate help from rescue, medical or emergency services. A guard patrolling a large site alone at night can fit this. Controls SafeWork NSW lists include:

• A check-in at the start and a sign-off at the end of the shift
• Regular contact with a supervisor by radio or phone
• Personal duress alarms that trigger in an emergency or when movement stops
• CCTV, periodic supervisor visits and security escorts to vehicles
• Training in the emergency plan and communication system

Fatigue

Shift and night work cause fatigue. SafeWork NSW says being awake for 17 hours affects you about as much as a blood alcohol content of 0.05, and 20 hours about as much as 0.1. Tell your supervisor if you are too tired to work safely.

Violence, aggression and psychosocial hazards

Abuse, threats and assault from customers are workplace violence and aggression. PCBUs must manage this risk like any other. These are psychosocial hazards, which can harm mental health. NSW's WHS Regulation 2025 has specific rules on them, and Victoria's Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 started on 1 December 2025, naming hazards such as aggression or violence, bullying and sexual harassment.

Lesson 4: Your right to stop unsafe work

Under section 84 of the model WHS Act, you may stop or refuse work if you have a reasonable concern that it would expose you to a serious risk from an immediate or imminent hazard, such as live electrical wires, toxic fumes or violence.

What to do

1. Move to a safe place.
2. Tell the PCBU (your supervisor) as soon as you can.
3. Stay available for suitable other work that is safe and within your skills.
4. Try to resolve the problem with the PCBU and your HSR, if you have one.
5. If it cannot be resolved, anyone involved can ask the regulator to send an inspector.

A trained HSR can also direct a work group to stop unsafe work. You must not be punished for raising a safety issue or using these rights. Discriminatory conduct, such as cutting shifts because you complained, is banned (ss 104 and 105).

Lesson 5: Serious incidents and reporting

Some events are notifiable incidents. Under the model WHS Act these include the death of a person, a serious injury or illness, and a dangerous incident. Serious injuries listed in section 36 include an amputation, a serious burn, a serious eye injury, a spinal injury and serious lacerations. Minor cuts and bruises are not notifiable, but you should still report them at work.

The scene may be disturbed only to help an injured person, remove a person who has died, make the site safe, assist police, or with the inspector's or regulator's permission. As a security officer you may be asked to guard the scene and keep people out.

The PCBU makes the notification, but you should report straight away to your supervisor. Safe Work Australia has updated the model Act to add more types of notifiable events, such as violent incidents including sexual assault, and each state or territory adopts changes in its own time, so check your regulator's rules.