3. Interpretation
(1) In this Act unless the contrary intention appears ¾
}appointed member~ means a member of the Commission referred to in section 6(2)(a) or (d);
}apprentice~ means an apprentice under the Industrial Training Act 1975;
}chairperson~ means the chairperson of the Commission;
}code of practice~ means a code of practice approved by the Minister under Part VIII;
}Commission~ means the Commission for Occupational Safety and Health established under this Act;
}Commissioner~ means the person holding office as WorkSafe Western Australia Commissioner under section 9;
}Commissioner of Police~ means the person holding the office of Commissioner of Police under the Police Act 1892;
}department~ means the department of the Public Service of the State principally assisting the Minister in the administration of this Act;
}employee~ means ¾
(a) a person by whom work is done under a contract of employment; or
(b) an apprentice or industrial trainee;
}employer~ means ¾
(a) a person by whom an employee is employed under a contract of employment; and
(b) in relation to an apprentice, or industrial trainee, the person by whom the apprentice or industrial trainee is employed under an apprenticeship or industrial training agreement;
}hazard~, in relation to a person, means anything that may result in ¾
(a) injury to the person; or
(b) harm to the health of the person;
}improvement notice~ means an improvement notice issued under Part VI;
}industrial trainee~ means an industrial trainee under the Industrial Training Act 1975;
}inspector~ means an inspector appointed under Part V;
}plant~ includes any machinery, equipment, appliance, implement, or tool and any component or fitting thereof or accessory thereto;
}police officer~ means a person appointed ¾
(a) under Part I of the Police Act 1892 to be a member of the Police Force of Western Australia;
(b) under Part III of the Police Act 1892 to be a special constable; or
(c) under Part IIIA of the Police Act 1892 to be an aboriginal aide;
}practicable~ means reasonably practicable having regard, where the context permits, to ¾
(a) the severity of any potential injury or harm to health that may be involved, and the degree of risk of it occurring;
(b) the state of knowledge about ¾
(i) the injury or harm to health referred to in paragraph (a);
(ii) the risk of that injury or harm to health occurring; and
(iii) means of removing or mitigating the risk or mitigating the potential injury or harm to health;
and
(c) the availability, suitability, and cost of the means referred to in paragraph (b)(iii);
}prescribed law~ means a law prescribed for the purposes of section 14(1)(b);
}prohibition notice~ means a prohibition notice issued under Part VI;
}risk~, in relation to any injury or harm, means the probability of that injury or harm occurring;
}safety and health committee~ means a safety and health committee established under Part IV;
}safety and health magistrate~ means a person holding office as a safety and health magistrate under section 51B;
}safety and health representative~ means a safety and health representative elected under Part IV;
}self-employed person~ means a person who works for gain or reward otherwise than under a contract of employment or an apprenticeship or industrial training agreement, whether or not he employs any other person;
}supply~, in relation to any plant or substance, includes supply and re-supply by way of sale, exchange, lease, hire, or hire-purchase, whether as principal or agent;
}trade union~ means ¾
(a) an organization registered under section 53 of the Industrial Relations Act 1979; or
(b) an organization registered under the Industrial Relations Act 1988 of the Parliament of the Commonwealth and having employees as its members, or a branch of any such organization;
}transferred law~ means a law or a provision of a law transferred to the administration of the Minister pursuant to an order under this Act;
}WA Police~ means the Police Force of Western Australia provided for by the Police Act 1892;
}workplace~ means a place, whether or not in an aircraft, ship, vehicle, building, or other structure, where employees or self-employed persons work or are likely to be in the course of their work.
(2) Anything that, under this Act, is required to be served on, or otherwise done in relation to, an employer in relation to a workplace or a matter related to a workplace, is deemed to have been so served or done if it is served on, or done in relation to, a person at the workplace who has or reasonably appears to have responsibility for the management or control of the workplace.
(3) For the purposes of sections 19(7), 20(5), 21(3), 22(5), 23(5) and 23A(3), a contravention causes serious harm to a person if it causes any bodily injury to the person, or causes the person to have a disease, of such a nature as to ¾
(a) endanger, or be likely to endanger, the person's life; or
(b) result, or be likely to result, in permanent injury or harm to the person's health.
(4) For the purposes of this Act, a police officer is to be treated as an employee of the Crown.
(5) Without limiting any other provision of this Act, a police officer is at work during any period of time when the officer is performing a function of a police officer, whether or not the officer is rostered on duty and, in relation to a police officer, the expressions }work~ and }at work~ are to be construed accordingly.
[Section 3 amended by No. 43 of 1987 s.5; No. 30 of 1995 s.6; No. 79 of 1995 s.67(5); No. 54 of 2002 s. 4; No. 74 of 2003 s. 87(3).]