South Australia: managing workplace health and safety risks
Source and status: SafeWork SA's June 2020 *How to manage work health and safety risks* Code of Practice commenced on 4 June 2020. It is an approved code under section 274 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA), covering workplaces within that Act.
The code describes a continuing process: identify hazards, assess risks where needed, implement controls and check their effectiveness. Consultation belongs throughout that process. Where a risk and effective controls are already known, a separate formal assessment need not delay action.
Controls should address the source of harm. Procedures and protective equipment are weaker than eliminating a hazard or changing the physical arrangements. An approved code is evidence relevant to compliance, not a substitute for the legislation; another method may achieve an equivalent or higher safety standard.
Application to corrections: For a proposed staffing or workflow change, build an evidence trail showing the identified hazard, affected posts, worker input, selected controls, responsible manager and review date. Check what happens on actual shifts, not just what a procedure says should happen. A completed risk matrix alone does not establish that the controls work.
*General information, not an assessment of any particular workplace. Source checked 15 November 2026. The official PDF remains linked rather than reproduced because it carries a non-commercial reuse licence.*
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