Volunteer Responsibilities in Health and Safety

1. Responsibilities of Volunteers Under HSWA

In practice, every volunteer should be ready to:

• Following Safety Instructions: Adhering to organisational health and safety policies and procedures.
• Using Equipment Correctly: Operating tools or machinery safely and only if authorised.
• Reporting Hazards: Notifying supervisors of any risks or incidents observed during activities.
• Participating in Training: Attending relevant safety training to understand their duties and responsibilities.

2. Casual Volunteers vs. Volunteer Workers

Volunteer responsibilities may vary depending on their classification:

• Casual Volunteers: Volunteers who help now and then or whose work is only fundraising, sport or recreation, activities for an educational institution outside its premises or caring for someone in their own home. They must take reasonable care of their own health and safety, take care not to affect others and follow reasonable instructions as far as they're able.
• Volunteer Workers: Volunteers who work with your knowledge or agreement, on an ongoing and regular basis, as an integral part of your organisation. HSWA treats them as workers. You owe them the same duties as paid staff, apart from the worker engagement and participation duties. They must also cooperate with your reasonable policies and instructions.

3. How Organisations Can Support Volunteers

To ensure volunteers can fulfil their responsibilities effectively, organisations should:

• Provide clear instructions and safety guidelines tailored to their roles.
• Offer accessible and relevant training for high-risk tasks.
• Encourage open communication to address concerns or questions.
• Monitor and supervise volunteers to ensure adherence to safety standards.

4. Benefits of Defining Volunteer Responsibilities

Clearly defined responsibilities create a safer, more efficient environment. Key benefits include:

• Reduced Risks: Fewer incidents due to consistent adherence to safety protocols.
• Enhanced Compliance: Aligning with HSWA regulations protects organisations from penalties.
• Volunteer Confidence: Volunteers feel valued and prepared to contribute safely.

What a PCBU Owes Volunteers

Whatever type of volunteer someone is, you must give them the information, training, instruction or supervision they need to do the work safely. For volunteer workers that extends to the same facilities, first aid, training and PPE you'd provide for paid staff.

• Assess the risks of each volunteer role, not just the event as a whole
• Induct volunteers before their first shift, in plain language
• Supervise new volunteers until you've seen them do the task safely
• Make it easy to report a hazard or an injury and follow it up

Training Volunteers So It Sticks

Volunteer training works best when it's short, practical and specific to the job in front of them. Show the task, let them do it while you watch and coach anything that isn't right. A quick refresher before a big event does more than a long induction months earlier.

Volunteer Officers, Volunteer Associations and Their Responsibilities

Volunteer officers, such as an unpaid board member, have the same due diligence duty as any other officer. WorkSafe's guidance is that they don't commit an offence if they fail to meet it, however the duty itself still applies.

A volunteer association, a group of volunteers working together for a community purpose with no employees, isn't a PCBU and has no HSWA duties. A common law duty to take reasonable care of the people involved in your activities still applies.

5. Conclusion

Volunteers make a real contribution to workplace safety and they need to understand and meet their responsibilities under HSWA. Training, clear instructions and ongoing support give them what they need to do their roles safely.

Volunteer Responsibilities and the Trust That Makes Them Work

In Raise the Standard the T in S.A.F.E.T.Y. stands for Trust, the floor the rest of a safety system stands on. Without it nobody tells you what's really happening, however good the procedures look.

Volunteers test that harder than paid staff do. A volunteer who spots a frayed lead or a blocked exit has no pay packet tied to speaking up and plenty of reasons to stay quiet, from not wanting to look like a nuisance to not knowing who to tell. If the last thing they reported disappeared without a reply, the next one probably won't get reported at all.

The volunteer responsibilities written into your induction only work if the organisation holds up its end. Thank people for reporting, tell them what changed and make sure the person running the shift is someone they'd actually go to.

The free S.A.F.E.T.Y. Leadership Worksheet takes you through Trust and the other five elements. It's a quick way to see where your volunteer programme is strong and where it's running on goodwill alone.

Frequently Asked Questions About Volunteer Responsibilities

Are volunteers workers under HSWA?

Volunteer workers are treated as workers under HSWA, while casual volunteers aren't. A volunteer worker works for a PCBU with its knowledge or consent, on an ongoing and regular basis, as an integral part of its operations. Casual volunteers, such as people who only help with fundraising, sport or recreation, are treated as other persons at the workplace.

What duties do volunteers have under HSWA?

Every volunteer must take reasonable care of their own health and safety, take reasonable care that what they do doesn't harm others and comply as far as they're able with reasonable instructions. Volunteer workers must also cooperate with the PCBU's reasonable health and safety policies and procedures.

Can a volunteer be prosecuted under HSWA?

A volunteer can only be prosecuted under HSWA for failing the worker duties in section 45 or the duties of other persons at a workplace in section 46. Under section 51 a volunteer doesn't commit an offence by failing any other duty in the Act. That's why a volunteer officer can't be prosecuted over the officer due diligence duty, even though the duty still applies to them.