A PCBU is a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking. It is the term used in the model Work Health and Safety Act for whoever carries the primary duty of care for health and safety at work. It is deliberately broader than the word "employer".
Who counts as a PCBU?
A PCBU can be a company, a partnership, a sole trader, an unincorporated association or a government department. What matters is that a business or undertaking is being conducted, not whether it employs anyone or makes a profit.
- A sole trader with no employees is a PCBU
- A company is a PCBU, and it is the company rather than its directors that holds the duty
- A partnership is a PCBU, and each partner shares it
- A worker is not a PCBU, though workers carry their own separate duties
- A volunteer association with no employees is generally not a PCBU
On a construction site there is usually more than one PCBU at once: the principal contractor, each subcontractor, the plant hire company, the labour hire provider. They all hold duties at the same time.
What duties does a PCBU have?
The primary duty is to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and of other people affected by the work. "So far as is reasonably practicable" is the qualifier that does most of the work in that sentence. It weighs the likelihood of harm, the degree of harm, what is known about the risk and the controls, and the cost of those controls.
In practice the duty covers the work environment, plant and structures, safe systems of work, facilities, information, training, instruction and supervision, and monitoring conditions. Where a duty is shared between several PCBUs, each holds it to the extent it has the capacity to influence the work, and they must consult, cooperate and coordinate with one another.
Why does Victoria use different wording?
Because Victoria never adopted the model laws. Most of Australia works from the harmonised Work Health and Safety Act, but Victoria operates under its own Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, administered by WorkSafe Victoria. That Act places duties on employers and self-employed persons. The term PCBU does not appear in it.
The practical effect is usually similar, since the Victorian duties are also qualified by what is reasonably practicable. The terminology differs, some definitions differ, and a document written only for the harmonised scheme can cite the wrong Act and the wrong regulator for Victorian work. It is the single most common reason a national safety document does not fit a Victorian site.
Western Australia is worth noting separately. It is part of the harmonised scheme and does use PCBU, but under its own Work Health and Safety Act 2020 rather than a state copy of the model Act.
Which term applies where?
- PCBU: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and the Commonwealth
- Employer and self-employed person: Victoria
What does this mean for your paperwork?
It means the jurisdiction matters before the content does. A document that names the Work Health and Safety Act and refers to a PCBU is wrong for a Victorian site, and one written only for Victoria is wrong everywhere else. The hazards and controls are much the same; the legislation, the regulator and the terminology are not.
Our documents are written per jurisdiction rather than reworded from a single national version, so the Victorian editions cite the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and WorkSafe Victoria. See SWMS requirements by state, or browse the trade packs.
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This guide is general information, not legal or safety advice, and does not guarantee compliance. Laws and site conditions vary, so always check your state regulator and have documents reviewed by a competent person.