WorkSafe yesterday outlined the reforms to more than 400 Ballarat business people at a local seminar.

The reforms, which come into force from July 1, will also ensure senior decision-makers in large corporations are held accountable for their actions on health and safety.

Commerce Ballarat has welcomed the move to make workplaces safer, but also fears the changes will be another blow to small businesses.

The workplace reforms come as statistics show there were 32,040 reported injury claims statewide in 2003-04 at a cost of more than $1 billion.

WorkSafe operations director Rob Sheers said yesterday there were 29 workplace deaths last year, with 21 taking place in regional Victoria, 13 of which were on farms.

"In the Ballarat area alone there were 3420 injuries in the last four years resulting in a claim, again the cost to the scheme of that was nearly $42 million," he said.

"If we can make any inroads on that there's huge benefits back to Victorians."

Mr Sheers said the new Occupational Health and Safety Act replaced the 20-year-old outdated Act, introducing a range of new penalties and systems.

He said the maximum penalty would increase from $250,000 to more than $900,000 for a corporation and $184,000 for an individual.

"There is also, brought into our law under the OH&S Act, the concept of reckless endangerment which can receive up to a five-year jail term."

Courts will be able to impose a range of alternative penalties while WorkSafe inspectors will also be able to provide advice to employers.

"People also now have a very easy and timely way to challenge any decisions of inspectors," Mr Sheers said.

"We welcome the opportunity for people to have that justice and that fairness."

Commerce Ballarat chairman Ian Jolly said the reforms were likely to "make things a lot tougher" for local businesses.

"I think it's fine to have some of these things in place but they keep on tightening and tightening them, making it harder for smaller businesses," he said.