A Day in the Life of a WorkSafe Inspector –Earth Resources Unit
Following on from recent articles from WorkSafe about industry safety performance, dangerous machines, plant safety and availability of free consultancy, TONY FERRA ZZA, Senior Mining Engineer, from the Earth Resources Unit, looks at the role of the WorkSafe inspector.
TONY interviewed several inspectors to provide the quarrying industry with an insight into what an inspector does during a site visit and what is expected from the duty holder.
Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act) WorkSafe inspectors have powers to enter your workplace during working hours, or when there is an immediate risk to anyone, to assess compliance with health and safety laws.
The primary role of WorkSafe inspectors is to ensure duty holders comply with health and safety and dangerous goods legislation.
They do this by:
- inspecting workplaces
- providing advice and information
- enforcing the law
So why will a WorkSafe inspector visit my site?
In general, an inspector would visit your work site for one of the following reasons:
- as part of a general workplace inspection program. These visits may cover industry safety hazards such as “working with dangerous machines” as well as site specific safety hazards identified during a site inspection
- in response to a safety concern reported to WorkSafe
- to investigate a reportable incident or workplace injury
- to follow up on previously issued notices
The average site visit takes between two and three hours.
What will the inspector do on entering my site?
On entering the site, the inspector would meet with the duty holder’s representative on site (typically the Quarry Manager), introduce themself and explain the purpose of the visit. It is important that the ‘duty holder’ or ‘legal entity’ is identified, as this is who is responsible for the obligations under the Act. This is usually the employer the occupier or a person who has management and control. Your Australian Business Number (ABN) or Australian Company Numbers (ACN) can help the inspector identify the legal entity.
If there is an elected Health and Safety Representative (HSR) on site, the inspector would also ask to meet with him/her.
Marnie Ross, an Inspector with over 13 years experience, likes to get an understanding of the site by asking the site representative to describe the operation. “By getting the operator to describe the process from start to finish, you get a feel for the site and potential safety issues that may lie ahead.”
What will the inspector do while inspecting my site?
A site inspection would typically involve the inspector being accompanied by the employer representative and, where available, the site HSR(s). Depending on the site, work areas inspected would include the quarry, processing plant, maintenance workshop and the sales area.
The inspector is seeking to observe the work practices, work environment and plant to gain an understanding of what, why and how work is undertaken. This is normally achieved by asking a series of questions of both the employer representative and workers, as required.
“When inspecting the quarry, I like to find a good observation point and watch the load/haul/dump operation over a few cycles. By observing the actual work practices, an inspector gets an overall picture whether the employer is meeting his safety obligations. At the end of the day, I need to believe the operations are being conducted in a manner which is as safe as is reasonably practicable,” said senior inspector Chris Walschots.
Where a safety issue(s) contravenes the OHS Act there is a range of options available to the inspector to have them rectified:
- Voluntary compliance – where the safety issue is addressed during the inspector’s visit.
- Improvement notice(s) – these are written directions requiring a person to fix an issue within a specified time. The inspector will include information on the notice about what must be done to comply (what does compliance look like). The duty holder who receives the notice is responsible for achieving compliance with legislation.
- Prohibition notices – these are written directions prohibiting any activity that will, or is likely to, involve an immediate risk to the health and safety of any individual. If a prohibition notice has been issued, the prohibited activity cannot recommence until an inspector certifies in writing that the risk has been remedied.
Not in picture is Chris Walschots (Snr Inspector) & Marnie Ross (Inspector).
What will the inspector do on completion of their site visit?
On completion of the site visit, the inspector will verbally inform the site representative and HSR of their findings and on what basis these findings were made.
An entry report is prepared which details what was done, who was spoken with, what documentation was collected during the visit and what, if any, future action is proposed by the inspector. The report including any notices, is served to the site representative.
For more information please go to WorkSafe’s website and search under ‘What happens during an inspection’.
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