Ensuring Workplace Safety

SafeWork NSW Inspectors are key players in maintaining workplace safety and compliance in New South Wales. They ensure businesses follow work health and safety (WHS) laws, protecting workers' safety and well-being and reducing work-related injuries and illnesses. Here’s a look at what they do and why their role is so important.

What Do SafeWork NSW Inspectors Do?

Inspectors work with businesses, workers, and the community to promote safety. They investigate workplace incidents, check compliance with WHS laws, and enforce regulations. They also provide advice on how businesses can meet legal requirements. When necessary, they issue improvement, prohibition notices or penalty notices and can even start legal proceedings for serious breaches.

The Powers of an Inspector

Inspectors have considerable authority. When they enter a workplace, they identify themselves, secure the scene of notifiable incidents, talk to witnesses and gather information and evidence. Inspectors will monitor and enforce compliance with WHS laws and take steps to ensure that WHS risks are identified and controlled and eliminated where possible. They inspect the workplace, can review documents, and may take photos and samples for analysis to ensure compliance with WHS laws.

Requesting an Inspector

Sometimes, businesses or workers need an inspector to help resolve a workplace issue. Requests can be made by any party involved, including the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU), their representative, affected workers, or health and safety representatives (HSRs). These requests can relate to issues like unsafe work conditions, provisional improvement notices (PINs), or unresolved WHS issues.

How Are Issues Resolved?

An issue is any WHS concern that remains unresolved after consultation. If there’s no agreed procedure, the default procedure in WHS regulations applies. Inspectors can provide advice, investigate breaches, or issue notices to resolve the issue. The process involves informing all parties about the issue, considering the risk’s severity and immediacy, the affected workers, and the measures required to resolve it.

Provisional Improvement Notices (PINs)

A PIN is a written direction by HSR which instructs the relevant duty holder to address a workplace health and safety concern. When an Inspector has been appointed to review a PIN, they investigate the situation and decide whether to confirm, amend, or cancel the PIN.

This decision is communicated to the person who requested the review and the HSR who issued the PIN. The process ensures fairness and transparency, following legislative requirements.

Prohibiting Unsafe Work

If an Inspectors believes that an activity at work involves a serious and immediate risk to health and safety risk of worker, they can issue a prohibition notice to stop work immediately. Their goal is to make the workplace safe and eliminate ongoing risks.

Reviewing an Inspector’s Decision

If a party disagrees with an Inspector’s decision, they can request a review. This ensures decisions are made fairly. The review will determine if the original decision-making process was appropriate in terms of relevant legislation, policies and procedures.

Conclusion

SafeWork NSW Inspectors are crucial for maintaining safe workplaces and ensuring compliance with WHS laws. Their extensive powers and responsibilities help create safer work environments and protect workers’ health and safety across New South Wales.

For more information and resources, including the SafeWork NSW Consultation Toolkit, HSR Handbook, and the Role of a SafeWork NSW Inspector, visit the SafeWork NSW website or if you are a registered HSR please feel free to attend our FREE refresher training day, scan the QR code here: