Fit for work
Fit for work means a worker is in a physical and mental state to do their work safely — free from impairment by fatigue, alcohol, drugs, illness or injury. The fitness-for-work duty sits on both the PCBU (to provide a system) and the worker (to declare).
Legal context
Fitness for work is a shared duty. The PCBU must have a fitness-for-work policy and system: rules for alcohol and drugs, fatigue management, return-to-work after illness or injury, declaration on arrival. The worker has a s28 duty to take reasonable care for their own safety and not adversely affect others — which includes declaring fitness or unfitness on arrival. Fatigue management in particular is a regulated obligation in mining, transport (NHVR) and rail, with specific maximum working hours and minimum rest periods. The fit-for-work framework intersects with return-to-work, drug-and-alcohol testing programmes, and reasonable adjustment under disability discrimination law.
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Related terms
Return to work
Return-to-work is the structured pathway by which an injured or ill worker resumes work, typically through staged suitable duties under a written RTW plan. Each Australian state has its own statutory scheme (e.g. NSW SIRA, Vic WorkSafe, Qld WorkCover) with employer obligations including timelines, designated coordinators and plan reviews.
Suitable duties
Suitable duties are work tasks an injured or ill worker can do during recovery, matched to their current medical capacity. Employers must offer suitable duties so far as is reasonably practicable; they are the primary mechanism by which a graduated return-to-work occurs.
Induction
An induction is the structured introduction of a worker (or contractor) to a workplace before they start work: site rules, emergency procedures, hazards, PPE, supervisory chain, sign-on. Induction is a precondition for being allowed to work on most managed sites.
Platform pillars
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47 WHS and HSWA terms with legal context, FAQs and regulator references.