This page is an educational summary for professionals working with AI. It is not the law and not legal advice. Always work from the current authoritative text linked below.
What do WHS regulations 37 and 38 do?
They keep risk controls honest over time. Regulation 37 requires a duty holder who implements a control measure to ensure it is, and is maintained so that it remains, effective, including by ensuring it is and remains fit for purpose, suitable for the nature and duration of the work, and installed, set up and used correctly. Regulation 38 requires review and, as necessary, revision of control measures. Read the current compilation on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Who does it bind?
Duty holders implementing control measures under the Commonwealth Regulations, which apply in the Comcare jurisdiction. The provisions mirror the model WHS laws as adopted in most jurisdictions, Victoria excepted; the verified text here is the Commonwealth version.
What do practitioners get wrong?
Dropping regulation 37's third limb. Summaries often stop at "fit for purpose" and "suitable for the work" and omit "installed, set up and used correctly", which is where most real-world control failures live. In regulation 38, paragraph 38(2)(c) is triggered by a "new relevant hazard or risk", not any new hazard anywhere; dropping "relevant" overstates the trigger.
Where does AI use touch it?
AI-driven changes to systems of work are review triggers under regulation 38(2)(b) and (3). See risk register AI trigger routing controls and HSR questions for deployed AI tools, noting an HSR can request a review under regulation 38(4).
Bottom line
Regulation 37 keeps controls working; regulation 38 forces a fresh look when circumstances change. AI deployments sit squarely inside both.
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