Purpose

This policy establishes that every person at a Westlink Logistics workplace has the authority and the obligation to stop work when they identify an imminent risk to health, safety, the environment, or quality. It reinforces the statutory right to cease unsafe work under section 84 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA) and ensures that stop work interventions are supported, investigated, and resolved without reprisal.

Scope

This policy applies to all Westlink Logistics directors, workers, contractors, subcontractors, labour hire workers, and visitors at any Westlink-controlled workplace or operational site. It covers all work activities including heavy haulage operations, maritime services, project logistics, workshop activities, and office-based work.

Organisational Context

Westlink Logistics operates heavy haulage, project logistics, and maritime services across Australia, primarily supporting defence, government, resources, and infrastructure sectors. Workers operate in high-risk environments including heavy vehicle transport, crane and rigging operations, vessel loading, and remote sites where conditions can change rapidly and the consequences of continuing unsafe work are severe.

The organisation holds DISP membership and is subject to JOSCAR pre-qualification, both of which require demonstrated health and safety management. Stop work authority is a cornerstone of the WMS safety culture and is integrated into ISO 45001 cl.5.4 (worker participation) and cl.8.1.2 (eliminating hazards).

Policy Commitments

Safety takes precedence over production, schedule, and cost. Westlink Logistics is committed to:

Empowering every person to stop work immediately when they identify an imminent risk to health or safety, a serious environmental hazard, work outside approved SWMS or risk assessments, defective or overloaded equipment, changed or unforeseen conditions, impairment by fatigue or substances, or a quality nonconformity that would cause irreversible damage.
Ensuring work does not resume until the hazard has been eliminated or controlled to an acceptable level, corrective actions have been verified, affected workers have been briefed, and authorisation to resume has been given by the responsible supervisor or manager.
Guaranteeing that no person will be subject to dismissal, demotion, reduction in hours, harassment, or any other adverse action for exercising stop work authority in good faith, consistent with WHS Act 2020 s.84 and Fair Work Act 2009 general protections.
Recording all stop work events in the incident and hazard reporting system and investigating them to determine root causes and identify systemic improvements per ISO 45001 cl.10.2.
Including stop work authority in site inductions, toolbox talks, and worker consultation, and ensuring workers participate in the investigation and resolution of stop work events per ISO 45001 cl.5.4.

Responsibilities

Role	Responsibility	When
Chief Executive Officer	Accountable for this policy. Ensures stop work authority is respected and the no-reprisal commitment is upheld across the organisation.	Ongoing; annual management review
QHSE Manager	Maintains the stop work reporting system. Analyses stop work data for trends and systemic issues. Reports findings through management review.	Ongoing; quarterly trend analysis
Managers, Supervisors, and Site Managers	Support stop work interventions. Lead the resolution process. Ensure corrective actions are implemented before authorising resumption. Reinforce no-reprisal commitment with their teams.	On stop work event; during resolution
All Workers, Contractors, and Visitors	Exercise stop work authority when a trigger condition is identified. Participate in the resolution process. Do not resume work until authorised.	On trigger identified

Review

This policy is reviewed annually as part of the management review cycle, or following any serious stop work event, notifiable incident, or significant change to WHS legislation. Stop work event data is reviewed as part of management review. This policy is communicated to all workers at induction and reinforced through toolbox talks and safety briefings.

Applicable Standards and Legislation

Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA)
Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 (WA)
Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)
ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems — Requirements
ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems — Requirements

GOV-POL-002 Work Health and Safety Policy
GOV-POL-005 Fitness for Work Policy
QHSE-MAN-001 Westlink Management System Manual
QHSE-PRO-001 Hazard and Incident Reporting and Investigation Procedure

Requirement	Clause	Coverage	Severity	Notes
FW-340-01	FW Act s.340	Full		§Policy CommitmentsCommitment 3 explicitly guarantees no person will be subject to dismissal, demotion, reduction in hours, harassment, or any other adverse action for exercising stop-work authority in good faith — direct operationalisation of FW Act s.340 protection. Stop-work authority and stop-work-event participation are workplace rights under s.341.
WHS-WA-104-01	WHS Act 2020 (WA) s.104	Full		§Policy CommitmentsStop Work Authority no-reprisal commitment — directly addresses s.104 in the context of WHS-conduct-related discriminatory action (already captured in whs-act-wa.md WHS-WA-84-01 evidence chain; here the s.104 prohibition is the federal-protection parallel).
WHS-WA-105-01	WHS Act 2020 (WA) s.105	Full		§Policy CommitmentsCommitment 3 expressly names the categories of conduct prohibited under s.105 — dismissal, demotion, reduction in hours, harassment and any other adverse action — applied to stop-work exercise.
WHS-WA-106-01	WHS Act 2020 (WA) s.106	Partial	Low	§Policy CommitmentsStop Work Authority no-reprisal commitment — directly addresses s.106(b) exercise of WHS power.
WHS-WA-108-01	WHS Act 2020 (WA) s.108	Partial	Low	§Policy CommitmentsStop Work Authority operationalises s.108 — a worker exercising the right to cease unsafe work (a WHS function) must not be coerced into resuming or coerced about how to exercise that power.

Requirement	Clause	Coverage	Notes
ISO45001-2018-4.1-01	4.1	Full	§Organisational ContextIdentifies Westlink's high-risk operational environments (heavy haulage, crane and rigging, vessel loading, remote sites) where stop-work authority is critical — context for the OH&S management system.
ISO45001-2018-4.2-01	4.2	Full	§Organisational ContextDISP membership and JOSCAR pre-qualification — interested-party expectations on health and safety governance reflected in the stop-work commitment.
ISO45001-2018-5.1-01	5.1	Partial	§ResponsibilitiesCEO accountable for upholding stop-work authority and the no-reprisal commitment across the organisation — direct operationalisation of cl.5.1(k) protecting workers from reprisals.
ISO45001-2018-5.2-01	5.2	Full	§ScopeStop-work authority is one operative expression of the OH&S policy commitment to elimination of hazards (cl.5.2(d)) and consultation/participation of workers (cl.5.2(f)) across the worker scope.
ISO45001-2018-5.3-01	5.3	Full	§ResponsibilitiesThree-column responsibilities table assigns and communicates stop-work-related roles for CEO, QHSE Manager, Managers/Site Managers, and All Workers/Contractors/Visitors.
ISO45001-2018-5.3-02	5.3	Partial	§ResponsibilitiesAll Workers row commits all personnel to exercise stop-work authority on trigger identification — workers at each level assume responsibility for their own OH&S.
ISO45001-2018-5.3-03	5.3	Partial	§ResponsibilitiesCEO row assigns final accountability for upholding the policy; QHSE Manager row assigns reporting authority for stop-work data and trends — operationalises cl.5.3 top management assignment of authority for conformance and reporting.
ISO45001-2018-5.4-01	5.4	Partial	§Policy CommitmentsCommitment 5 includes stop-work authority in site inductions, toolbox talks, and worker consultation, and ensures workers participate in stop-work-event investigation and resolution.
ISO45001-2018-5.4-02	5.4	Partial	§Policy CommitmentsCommitment 3 no-reprisal guarantee removes a key barrier to consultation/participation — directly addresses cl.5.4(c) Note 2 obstacle removal (reprisals as a barrier).
ISO45001-2018-7.3-01	7.3	Full	§Policy CommitmentsCommitment 5 commits stop-work authority awareness via inductions and toolbox talks — operationalises cl.7.3(f) ability of workers to remove themselves from situations of imminent and serious danger.
ISO45001-2018-8.1.2-01	8.1.2	Full	§Policy CommitmentsCommitment 1 enumerates stop-work triggers (imminent risk, work outside SWMS, defective equipment, changed conditions, impairment, quality nonconformity) and Commitment 2 resume criteria (hazard elimination/control before resumption) — hierarchy-of-controls preference for elimination at the policy level.
ISO45001-2018-9.1.1-01	9.1.1	Full	§ResponsibilitiesQHSE Manager analyses stop-work data for trends and systemic issues; reports findings through management review — operationalises cl.9.1.1 monitoring, measurement, analysis and performance evaluation.
ISO45001-2018-9.3-01	9.3	Full	§ReviewAnnual policy review and management review cycle include stop-work event data as input — directly addresses cl.9.3 management review inputs.
ISO45001-2018-9.3-02	9.3	Full	§ReviewPolicy review at planned intervals (annual) and on triggering events (serious stop-work, notifiable incident, significant WHS legislative change).
ISO45001-2018-10.2-01	10.2	Full	§Policy CommitmentsCommitment 4 records all stop-work events in the incident/hazard reporting system and investigates root causes — directly addresses cl.10.2 reaction to nonconformity. Commitment 2 resume criteria require corrective actions verified before authorisation to resume.
ISO45001-2018-10.2-02	10.2	Full	§Policy CommitmentsCommitment 4 commits to root-cause investigation of stop-work events — evaluation of need for action to eliminate cause and prevent recurrence.
ISO45001-2018-10.2-03	10.2	Partial	§Policy CommitmentsCommitment 4 routes stop-work findings through the corrective-action process per ISO 45001 cl.10.2 — implementation of needed action.
ISO45001-2018-10.2-04	10.2	Full	§ResponsibilitiesQHSE Manager analyses stop-work data for trends and reports findings through management review — operationalises cl.10.2 review of effectiveness of corrective action taken.
ISO45001-2018-10.2-05	10.2	Partial	§Policy CommitmentsCommitment 4 commits to identifying systemic improvements from stop-work events — operationalises cl.10.2 update to risks and opportunities if necessary.

Requirement	Clause	Coverage	Severity	Notes
WHS-WA-19-01	WHS Act 2020 (WA) s.19	Full		§ScopeStop Work Authority policy scope extends to all directors, workers, contractors, labour-hire workers and visitors at any Westlink workplace — operationalises the s.19 PCBU primary duty as it applies to work that is dangerous to health and safety.
WHS-WA-84-01	WHS Act 2020 (WA) s.84	Full		§PurposeStop Work Authority policy establishes the worker authority and obligation to cease unsafe work and reinforces the s.84 right to cease — direct primary anchor. No-reprisal commitment (Commitment 3) protects exercise of the right.

Rev	Issued	Document Ref	Document Title	Author	Approved
1	24/05/2021	WLK-GBL-GOV-POL-017	Stop Work Authority Policy	CEO (JDG)	CEO (JDG)
2	09/03/2026	GOV-POL-017	Stop Work Authority Policy	FTM (CF)	CEO (JDG)
3	16/03/2026	GOV-POL-017	Stop Work Authority Policy	FTM (CF)	CEO (JDG)

Pending approval — not yet published

Stop Work Authority Policy

Purpose

Scope

Organisational Context

Policy Commitments

Responsibilities

Review

Applicable Standards and Legislation

Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) General Protections + Part 3-5A Sexual Harassment + Part 6-2 Disputes + Part 6-4B Bullying + WHS Act 2020 (WA) Part 6 Discriminatory Conduct(5)

ISO 45001:2018(19)

Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA)(2)

Pending approval — not yet published

Stop Work Authority Policy

Purpose

Scope

Organisational Context

Policy Commitments

Responsibilities

Review

Applicable Standards and Legislation

Related Documents

Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) General Protections + Part 3-5A Sexual Harassment + Part 6-2 Disputes + Part 6-4B Bullying + WHS Act 2020 (WA) Part 6 Discriminatory Conduct(5)

ISO 45001:2018(19)

Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA)(2)