WorkSafe Western Australia (WorkSafe WA) is the government agency responsible for overseeing workplace safety and health across Western Australia. WorkSafe WA’s primary role is to promote and enforce occupational safety and health (OSH) standards and assist workplaces to provide a safe working environment.
As the state’s workplace safety regulator, WorkSafe WA administers the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 and has wide-ranging powers to make laws and regulations, provide education and advice, inspect workplaces, investigate incidents, and enforce OSH requirements. WorkSafe aims to reduce work-related injury, disease and death in WA workplaces through this regulatory function.
Legislation
The main piece of legislation governing WorkSafe WA is the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984. This Act sets out the key principles, duties, rights and responsibilities relating to OSH across all WA workplaces. The objectives of the OSH Act are:
- To promote and secure the safety and health of persons in the workplace
- To protect persons in the workplace against hazards
- To assist in securing safe and hygienic work environments
- To reduce, eliminate and control workplace hazards
- To foster cooperation between employers and employees in promoting and developing occupational safety and health measures
The OSH Act places the primary responsibility for safety and health with the employer and outlines the general duties of employers, employees, self-employed people, manufacturers, designers and others. It sets out offences and penalties for non-compliance with OSH duties.
WorkSafe WA also administers regulations made under the OSH Act dealing with specific hazards or industries, such as:
- Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996
- Lead Regulations 2002
- Asbestos Regulations 1992
- Construction Industry Safety Regulations 2022
- Mines Safety and Inspection Regulations 1995
Functions and Powers
WorkSafe WA has a range of functions and powers aimed at improving OSH across workplaces. Key functions include:
- Developing OSH legislation, regulations, codes of practice and guidance
- Promoting public awareness of OSH issues
- Providing education, advice and information to employers and workers on OSH
- Conducting assessments and inspections of workplaces
- Investigating workplace incidents, injuries and diseases
- Taking enforcement action when OSH breaches occur
To carry out these functions, WorkSafe inspectors have broad powers to:
- Enter any workplace at any time without notice or search warrant
- Require the production of documents and answers to questions
- Examine, inspect, take measurements, photos or recordings
- Seize dangerous workplaces or anything relating to a contravention
- Issue improvement or prohibition notices
- Prosecute individuals and businesses for OSH breaches
Key Focus Areas
While WorkSafe oversees OSH across all WA workplaces, some key focus areas include:
High risk industries
Certain industries like construction, mining and manufacturing have higher rates of injuries and fatalities. WorkSafe targets proactive assessments, inspections and enforcement in these industries.
Psychosocial hazards and bullying
In recent years, there has been greater focus on addressing psychosocial risks like work stress, bullying and fatigue. WorkSafe provides guidance on managing these hazards.
Small business
Small businesses often lack OSH resources and expertise. WorkSafe aims to make compliance simpler through guidance tools, workplace visits and advising on low-cost safety solutions.
Hazardous substances
WorkSafe oversees the safe use, handling, labeling, storage and disposal of hazardous chemicals like asbestos, lead and crystalline silica.
COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic, WorkSafe WA has provided significant guidance and advice to assist workplaces to operate safely and prevent virus transmission.
Education and Guidance
An important part of WorkSafe’s role is providing education, information and guidance to improve OSH practices. This includes:
- General OSH information, tips, tools and templates on the WorkSafe website
- Industry-specific OSH guidelines, handbooks and checklists
- Codes of practice on how to manage OSH duties and risks
- Guidance on new or emerging OSH issues
- Case studies, videos and webinars
- Alerts about high-risk issues requiring attention
By providing useful and practical guidance material, WorkSafe aims to make it easier for duty holders to understand and comply with their OSH obligations.
Inspections
A major part of WorkSafe’s role is inspecting WA workplaces to check OSH standards and compliance with the law. Inspections aim to:
- Assess OSH systems and controls in place
- Identify breaches or deficiencies to be addressed
- Provide advice to improve OSH practices
- Ensure compliance with notices or regulations
- Investigate incidents, complaints or concerns
Inspectors have legal powers to enter any workplace unannounced, inspect premises, processes and equipment, require documents and answers, take photos, interview people and seize anything posing a risk. Following an inspection, they can issue improvement notices to fix a safety issue or prohibition notices to cease dangerous activities.
Proactive inspections
WorkSafe proactively targets inspections based on risk factors such as hazardous industries, complaints data, incident history, and intelligence about non-compliance. High-risk industries like mining and construction generally receive more regular proactive inspections.
Incident-related inspections
When a workplace incident, injury or disease notification is made to WorkSafe, an inspector may attend to investigate causes and compliance issues. This aims to prevent any recurrence.
Complaint-based inspections
WorkSafe inspectors can investigate safety complaints made by workers, unions or others. Complainants can request anonymity. The complaint must be sufficiently detailed to allow an inspection to be conducted.
Investigations
WorkSafe WA investigates serious work-related incidents including:
- Fatalities
- Serious injuries or illnesses
- Dangerous incidents
- Complaints or concerns about unsafe practices
- Alleged breaches of OSH laws
The aim is to understand causes and prevent recurrence. Inspectors gather evidence, interview witnesses, check OSH systems, assess compliance and determine factors contributing to the issue. Following an investigation, WorkSafe may:
- Provide recommendations to affected parties
- Issue notices to improve safety
- Bring prosecutions where breaches of the law have occurred
Investigations aim to drive organizational changes and learnings to improve safety, not just penalize past mistakes. However, WorkSafe will firmly enforce the law where there is deliberate or negligent non-compliance.
Enforcement
A key power of WorkSafe is enforcing OSH laws where breaches occur. Enforcement actions aim to:
- Bring duty holders into compliance with legal requirements
- Impose repercussions for unlawful conduct
- Deter future non-compliance
WorkSafe uses a graduated approach starting with advice and improvement notices. If these fail to achieve compliance, sterner penalties follow. Enforcement options include:
Improvement notices
These require an individual or business to fix a contravention of the OSH laws within a stated timeframe. Failure to comply is an offence.
Prohibition notices
These prohibit an activity that poses an immediate OSH risk until hazards are removed. Breaching a prohibition notice is an offence.
On-the-spot fines
Inspectors can issue on-the-spot fines of up to $10,000 to individuals and up to $50,000 to bodies corporate for minor breaches.
Prosecutions
WorkSafe prosecutes when a breach of OSH laws involves gross negligence, recklessness, or an extreme departure from reasonable standards. Proceedings are usually in the Magistrates Court or District Court. Maximum penalties for individuals are $400,000 and/or up to 2 years imprisonment. For bodies corporate, maximum fines are $2.7 million.
Enforceable undertakings
Rather than prosecute, WorkSafe can accept a written enforceable undertaking from the party who committed the breach. This may require them to carry out specific activities that promote safety outcomes.
Advisory Committees
WorkSafe is advised by tripartite Committees representing employer groups, unions and government. These include:
- Commission for Occupational Safety and Health
- Mining Industry Advisory Committee
- Construction Industry Safety Advisory Committee
- Petroleum and Major Hazard Facilities Advisory Committee
- WorkSafe Awards Judging Panel
The Committees allow key stakeholders to provide input on OSH initiatives, guidance material, legislative changes, and emerging issues relevant to their industry sectors.
Promoting Safety
In addition to its regulatory role, WorkSafe promotes safety awareness and best practices through:
- Safety alerts and warnings about high-risk situations
- Safety campaigns targeting key industries or demographics
- Safety and Health Expos and forums
- WorkSafe Awards to recognize outstanding OSH initiatives
- WorkSafe Magazine featuring safety news and stories
- Research reports examining key OSH issues and trends
By actively highlighting OSH issues across the community, WorkSafe generates greater commitment to building safe workplaces.
Workers’ Compensation
While WorkSafe does not directly administer workers’ compensation, it plays an important role in terms of:
- Setting workplace safety standards to help prevent injuries
- Enforcing OSH laws to drive safer workplaces
- Investigating serious incidents to identify causes and prevent recurrences
- Monitoring long latency diseases linked to work exposures
By performing these functions, WorkSafe helps reduce the burden on the workers’ compensation scheme. So promotion of OSH and reduction of workplace injury and disease remains WorkSafe’s primary focus.
Conclusion
WorkSafe Western Australia plays a vital role in ensuring safety and health across WA workplaces through a mix of:
- Developing and administering OSH laws and standards
- Providing education, advice and guidance to duty holders
- Conducting workplace inspections and investigations
- Taking enforcement action for breaches of OSH requirements
- Promoting safety awareness across the community
While employers, workers and other duty holders have prime responsibility for creating safe workplaces, WorkSafe oversees this framework to reduce risk and focuses on high priority areas. Through its regulatory functions and safety promotion initiatives, WorkSafe aims to foster continual OSH improvements and reduce work-related trauma.
