Engaging Contractors in Queensland: Who Is Responsible for Safety?

Quick answer: Engaging a contractor doesn't automatically transfer your WHS responsibilities. Both the engaging business and the contractor may hold duties relating to the same work. Each must discharge its obligations so far as is reasonably practicable, having regard to the work being done and its capacity to influence and control the relevant risks.

Most Queensland businesses bring in contractors at some point, from electricians and refrigeration techs to full construction crews. This guide explains how shared WHS duties work, what to check before work starts, and where the principal contractor rules come in.

Why "they're the experts, it's their problem" doesn't hold up

Bringing in a specialist contractor makes sense. They have the skills, the equipment and the licences. What the contract can't do is move your legal duties onto them. Several parts of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) explain why:

• Section 7 defines a worker broadly. A person who carries out work for your business as a contractor or subcontractor, or as an employee of one, can be a worker of your business for WHS purposes.
• Section 19 requires you to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers you engage or cause to be engaged, and workers whose activities you influence or direct.
• Section 14 says a duty can't be transferred to another person. A contract clause saying the contractor is "responsible for all safety" doesn't remove your own duty.
• Section 16 says more than one person can hold the same duty at the same time. Each must meet it to the extent of their capacity to influence and control the matter.

That last point is the practical one. These are overlapping duties, not one party carrying everything. Nobody expects you to supervise an electrician's testing method. But you do control site access, other activities nearby, your own plant and the information you hold about hazards on site. The contractor, in turn, controls how its own work is planned and carried out.

Consult, cooperate and coordinate

Section 46 of the WHS Act requires each duty holder with a duty about the same matter to consult, cooperate and coordinate activities with the others, so far as is reasonably practicable. WorkSafe Queensland's consultation guidance and its code of practice on consultation, cooperation and coordination explain this in more detail. On a real job, it usually looks like this:

• Sharing what you know about site hazards before work starts, such as asbestos registers, underground services, traffic movements and confined spaces.
• Agreeing who controls what, including isolations, permits, exclusion zones and emergency response.
• Sequencing work so one trade doesn't create a hazard for another.
• Telling each other about incidents, near misses and changes to the scope of work.

This sits alongside your separate duty to consult your own workers, which we covered in our guide to consulting workers on safety.

What to check before a contractor starts

Some checks are legal requirements. Others are proportionate due diligence, and the right level depends on the risk of the work. A one-off low-risk job doesn't need the same pack as a contractor doing high risk construction work or working on live plant. Keep the two clear:

• Legal requirements, where they apply: a SWMS before any high risk construction work starts, and the licences or high risk work licences the task requires. These apply because of the type of work, regardless of the size of the job. Our article on the difference between a risk assessment and a SWMS explains when a SWMS is required.
• Proportionate due diligence: checking competency and experience for the task, reading the contractor's SWMS or safe work procedures against your site rather than just filing them, a site induction covering your specific hazards and emergency arrangements, agreed supervision and communication, and the condition of plant they bring on site. Scale these to the risk.

During the job: paperwork isn't enough

Operational checks matter as much as documents. Most contractor incidents happen in the gap between what the paperwork says and what happens on the day. Walk the job, check the controls in the SWMS are actually in place, stop work if they aren't, and revisit the plan when the scope changes. If something serious happens, the notification and site preservation duties apply straight away, as set out in our guide on what to do after a notifiable incident.

A practical example

Say a food manufacturer brings in a refrigeration contractor to repair a compressor in a plant room during production. The contractor manages its own work method, licences and tools. The manufacturer controls the plant room, the isolation of its equipment, forklift traffic outside the door and who else enters the area. If the two never agree who isolates what, and when, both businesses have a gap. A short pre-start conversation covering isolations, access and the contractor's work method, recorded on a one-page permit, is usually enough to close it.

Construction projects and the principal contractor

Construction work adds another layer. Under the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld), a construction project is a project involving construction work costing $250,000 or more, and a construction project can only have one principal contractor at a time. The person commissioning the project is the principal contractor by default unless they formally appoint another business and authorise it to manage or control the workplace. The appointment rules and the principal contractor's extra duties, such as the WHS management plan, need to be considered separately for each project. WorkSafe Queensland's principal contractor guidance sets these out.

The $250,000 threshold only decides whether the work is a construction project. It doesn't decide whether a SWMS is needed. High risk construction work needs a SWMS regardless of the value of the job.

Building a process that holds up

For many small and mid-sized businesses, the gap isn't intent. It's that nobody has the time to build and run a contractor management process alongside their real job. Contracted safety management can help by setting up prequalification, inductions and SWMS review that match your risk levels, and keeping them running. Outsourcing that support doesn't transfer your statutory duties, but it can make meeting them far more practical. If you're weighing it against a hire, our comparison of an outsourced vs full-time safety manager covers the trade-offs, and our WHS consulting team can review an existing process.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld), sections 7, 14, 16, 19 and 46. Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld), construction project and principal contractor provisions (sections 292 and 293). WorkSafe Queensland, Consultation, representation and participation; Principal contractors.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Last reviewed 29 October 2026.