Under WHS and OHS legislation, duty holders must do what is reasonably practicable to ensure health and safety. Mining legislation specifically imposes a range of obligations for managing contractors, including obtaining, reviewing, approving, and integrating contractor health and safety management plans into the mine’s safety management system, and monitoring contractors’ compliance with them. When considered alongside broader principles from case law on the role of control and what is reasonably practicable, these obligations seem to go beyond what has been considered reasonably practicable in decisions such as Baiada Poultry Pty Ltd v The Queen and Stevens v Brodribb Sawmilling Co Pty Ltd.
While Safety regulators have tried to explain what this means in practice, practical guidance on what compliance looks like on the ground remains limited.
So how should mining and construction approach reasonable practicability, what should be avoided, and what might compliance with applicable legislation for contractor safety management look like in practice? Join us for our final webinar of 2026, where we will reflect on what is reasonably practicable, the available guidance, the practical judgment required beyond simply applying the statutory definition of SFARP, and some common approaches and pitfalls to avoid.