Who has to keep construction records? The legal duty may sit with a PCBU, employer, principal contractor or person with management or control, not automatically the site supervisor. The records required depend on the work, hazard, contract and jurisdiction.
Separate the record types
Do daily diaries replace WHS records?
No. An ordinary diary can support project records, but it does not replace a notifiable-incident record, safe work method statement, WHS management plan or any other record required for the work.
Under section 38(7) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth), a PCBU must keep a record of each notifiable incident for at least five years from the notice given to the regulator. That is a specific rule for notifiable incidents, not a general five-year rule for every site record.
For high-risk construction work, the Commonwealth model Regulations set separate rules for SWMS and WHS management plans. A SWMS is kept until the work is completed, and for two years after a related notifiable incident. A WHS management plan is kept until the project is complete, and for two years after a related notifiable incident.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check the law, contract and project requirements that apply to your work.
Ordinary diaries and contract records
A daily diary may be required by a contract, superintendent's direction, project procedure, insurer or client. The agreement decides who must prepare it, what it must contain, where it must be stored and how long it must be retained. Do not assume a standard form creates the same obligation on every supervisor or subcontractor.
Use the actual records, notice and claims clauses for the project. A useful diary may help explain events later, but it does not by itself prove that a contractual notice was given or that a statutory WHS record was made.
Other WHS records are conditional
Inspection, plant, training, induction, hazard and risk records can be required by the particular work, plant, hazard, licence or project arrangement. The obligation and duty holder depend on the applicable provision. Build the project register from the work actually being done, rather than treating a generic diary as a complete compliance file.
The jurisdiction check
New South Wales and Queensland publish their current WHS Acts and Regulations on their legislation sites. The ACT, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory each have their own current WHS legislation. Western Australia has its own WHS Act 2020 framework. Victoria uses its Occupational Health and Safety framework; WorkSafe Victoria publishes its notifiable-incident and SWMS requirements separately.
These sources are a starting point, not a claim that all jurisdictions use identical terms, duties or retention periods. Check the law where the work occurs and any regulator material directed to the type of work.
Digital records
Can a digital diary meet the requirements?
A digital diary may be useful, but whether it meets a requirement depends on the applicable law, contract, content, accessibility and how it can be authenticated.
Keep the information available for the relevant period and follow any prescribed form, access or handover requirement. The fact that a record is digital does not make it a substitute for a required notice, SWMS or management plan.
A practical allocation
Ask the project lead to identify the duty holder for each required record, the person who prepares it, the repository and the retention period. If a subcontract requires reports, capture that separately from statutory WHS duties.
Sources and further reading
- Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth); Regulations
- New South Wales WHS Act; Regulation
- Queensland WHS Act; Regulation
- ACT WHS Act
- Tasmania WHS Act; Regulations
- South Australia WHS Act; Regulations
- Northern Territory WHS Act; Regulations
- Western Australia WHS Act 2020
- WorkSafe Victoria: notifiable incidents; SWMS