Officers’ Due Diligence - Making Work Health and Safety an Accounting Problem?

Purpose New work health and safety (WHS) legislation in many Australian States and Territories places specific due diligence obligations on the officers of an organisation. This paper questions whether imposing an enforceable WHS duty of care on accounting and finance officers is justified and appropriate. Design / methodology / approach The paper critically examines the capacity of accountants and accounting to influence work-related injury and illness outcomes across an organisation. Detailed third-party investigations into fatal WHS failures are reviewed, focusing on the web of contributing factors identified in each case study. Factors that may be traced, directly or indirectly, to accounting practices are identified and explored. Findings The findings suggest accounting practices, such as the resourcing and performance management decisions of accountants, financial controllers, chief financial officers, chief executive officers and directors, can contribute significantly to an increase in WHS failure risk. Consequently, the imposition of WHS duty of care and due diligence obligations on accounting officers appears justified. Research limitations / implications The findings suggest a fundamental change in thinking about the role of accounting in organisational governance may be required. A novel, but critical, threshold concept is suggested to form a conceptual link between accounting practice and WHS risk. Further research is needed to examine the extent to which this threshold concept is addressed in undergraduate and professional accounting education. Practical implications Recommendations for accounting practice are offered, suggesting ways in which traditional accounting activities can be modified to better align organisational and WHS governance. Originality / value This paper builds a bridge between the accounting, management and WHS literature. This interdisciplinary perspective enables the development of a conceptual framework for corporate (WHS) governance.