Safe Design Proformas

30 August 2016 - Updated: 30 March 2023

The ACA’s Safe Design documents help architects to meet their obligations under the Model Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and state-specific regulations.

The Safe Design Documents are an ACA member resource, and are only available to members. Members should log in to access the downloads below.

The Safe Design Proformas were developed by ACA VIC/TAS in response to the Victoria OHS Act 2004 and have since been updated in response to the Model Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and regulations. Other ACA branches have adapted these to the needs of other states.

For more information about Safe Design refer to Anna Piatkowska’s article “Safe Design – What You Need To Know“.

Safe Design Documents will be updated from time to time to reflect industry use and consultation. If you have feedback on these documents please get in touch.

Victoria

The Safe Design Proforma includes the following:

  • User guide
  • Brief discussion on the applicability of the Model Act
  • Useful definitions
  • An outline of the PCBU’s obligations under the Model Act as a Designer
  • Commentary on appropriate record-keeping
  • Suggestions for further reading
  • Editable spreadsheets to form the basis of the user’s process and records.

Note: The original ACA – Vic Safe Design Process responding to the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 is still available and valid for projects in Victoria. However, principals and contractors may require adherence to the higher standard set by the Model Act.

Western Australia

In 2023, the WA Branch engaged legal practice Jackson MacDonald to revise our Safety in Design Report template and Safety in Design Hazard Identification Checklist and Register in accordance with the updated Work Health and Safety Regulation 2022.

Jackson MacDonald has advised that the onus remains on Architects to:

  • Design structures so that so far as reasonably practicable, they do not create a risk to other people (section 22 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2020); and
  • Provide the client with a report that identifies hazards associated with the design of the structure (regulation 295 of the Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022).

The WA Committee encourages all members to familiarise themselves with the new documents and to refer to the following documents for more information:

South Australia

The Safe Design Proforma has been adapted to the South Australian context by the ACA – SA.

Access documents below

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NOTE: Member Only Content

This article was updated on 30 March 2023.