Safety for Visitors and Customers is the control of the exposure of non-worker individuals to risks that arise from a workplace, work activities, or a business undertaking. As described by the Model Work Health and Safety Act, the primary duty of care of a person conducting a business or undertaking is to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers engaged, or caused to be engaged by the person; and workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the person, while the workers are at work in the business or undertaking. Subsection 2 of the Act states that a person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other persons is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking. This is important because other persons, being people, workers, and passersby, inhabit and interact with the environment, where in retail, health, transport, and industrial settings, unfamiliarity to those work areas amplifies exposure to hazards (Runyan et. al., 2007; World Health Organisation [WHO], 2018).
Section 29 of the Work Health and Safety Act instructs that any person at a workplace, including customers and visitors, must take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by their actions or omissions. They must also comply, so far as they are reasonably able, with any reasonable instruction that is given by the PCBU to comply with WHS laws. Customers and visitors are therefor obliged to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and the health and safety of others. A key consideration is that the workers, managers and officers of a business or undertaking are necessarily more well-appraised and closely-acquainted with the ecosystem of hazards and risks to which they are exposed, and being obliged to take reasonable care for the health and safety of others who may be affected by actions or omissions, are obliged to extend that same standard of care to customers and visitors of premises and workplaces. Where workers are trained in hazard identification, they demonstrate better safety performance (Bahn, 2012), and this should be used for the protection of others.
Visitors and customers, unlike workers, do not possess the same familiarity with the operational environment, the behavioural norms, or the hazard ecosystem that characterises a workplace. Their exposure is often transient, situational, and shaped by limited contextual awareness, which increases the likelihood that even low‑order hazards may result in disproportionate harm. Slips, trips, and falls illustrate this effect clearly: peer-reviewed injury surveillance studies consistently show that first-time entrants and members of the public experience higher fall risk in working environments than trained staff (Drebit et. al., 2010). For this reason, the WHS duties imposed on PCBUs extend beyond the management of worker risk to encompass the protection of all persons whose health and safety may be affected by work activities. This includes ensuring that the design of accessways, the arrangement of plant, the sequencing of tasks, and the conduct of workers do not create uncontrolled or poorly communicated risks for visitors. The provision of clear instructions, visible signage, controlled access, and appropriate supervision are therefore essential components of a systematic approach to visitor safety, ensuring that individuals who lack operational knowledge are not inadvertently exposed to hazards inherent to the business undertaking (Drupsteen & Boustras, 2016).
In addition to these structural and procedural considerations, the management of visitor safety requires an appreciation of how risk is transformed when individuals without training or task‑specific competence enter environments shaped by industrial processes. Controls that are adequate for workers, who receive information, instruction, training, and ongoing supervision may be insufficient for visitors whose behaviour is less predictable and whose understanding of hazards is limited (Gstaettner et. al., 2017). This necessitates the application of controls that are robust, intuitive, and resilient to human variability, such as physical barriers, engineered separation, and simplified emergency communication pathways. Moreover, PCBUs must ensure that the presence of visitors does not degrade existing controls or introduce new risks, such as congestion, distraction, or interference with plant or workflow. A methodological approach to visitor safety therefore requires continuous review, consultation with workers, and the integration of visitor‑related considerations into broader risk management and change‑management processes.
Each workplace is different, with different demands, methods of business, and is staffed by people whose capacities, needs, and risk profiles are different. Managing ergonomic, environmental, and occupational health and safety challenges requires a business to examine and engage with the ecosystem of factors that give rise to risk, and how that risk may affect people. Each workplace is different and so sometimes the same problem will require different solutions. This applies to workers as well - every person is different and so may require different support, supervision, or resources to perform comfortably and sustainably. Under Work Health and Safety law, consultation with the workforce, the control of risk as far as is reasonably practicable, and the provision of information, training, instruction and support to the worker by the workplace, is essential to meet obligations to provide workers with a workplace that is as free of risk as far is reasonably practicable.
In our capacity as consultants, Atlas Physio will explore and scope the business and its needs, examining how exposures, risks, and processes contribute to the hazard ecosystem, best inform the design and arrangement of procedural, policy-based, and practical risk controls. Our solutions are tailored to the needs of those with whom we work, implemented in a simple, sustainable, and supportive fashion, designed to be robust and resilient, and to support the ongoing life of the business as well as the sustainable wellbeing of the workers who undertake the day to day activities of work.
At Atlas Physio, we provide reporting, structured control, and ongoing management of risk onsite, on the road, and wherever work is done. We are open seven days a week, and are happy to offer a brief complimentary discussion to explore the needs of your business and your workers if you are an employer, and your needs if you are a worker. Reach out today to arrange a discussion and take the first step toward managing risk and working safely, supported by expertise that is practical, reliable, and designed to deliver lasting results.
References
Bahn, S. (2012). Workplace hazard identification: What do people know and how is it done? Retrieved 14th January 2026 from https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks2012/161/
Drebit, S., Shajari, S., Alamgir, H., Yu, S., & Keen, D. (2010). Occupational and environmental risk factors for falls among workers in the healthcare sector. Ergonomics, 53(4), 525-536.
Drupsteen, L., & Boustras, G. (2016). Exploring effectiveness of safety information for workplace visitors. Safety science, 88, 224-231.
Gstaettner, A. M., Rodger, K., & Lee, D. (2017). Visitor perspectives of risk management in a natural tourism setting: An application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 19, 1-10.
Runyan, C. W., Schulman, M., Dal Santo, J., Bowling, J. M., Agans, R., & Ta, M. (2007). Work-related hazards and workplace safety of US adolescents employed in the retail and service sectors. Pediatrics, 119(3), 526-534.
World Health Organization. (2019). Global status report on road safety 2018. World Health Organization.