Preventing Falls from Height - Statistics
Enforcement Action
| Month issued | Improvement Notice | Infringement Notice | Prohibition Notice | Written Warning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | - |
- |
1 |
1 |
| Feb[3] | 3 |
- |
5 |
4 |
| Mar | 4 |
1 |
17 |
10 |
| Apr | 7 |
- |
10 |
10 |
| May | 2 |
- |
16 |
14 |
| Jun | 15 |
1 |
11 |
4 |
| Jul[4] | 35 |
2 |
68 |
33 |
| Aug | 29 |
2 |
62 |
49 |
| Sep | 48 |
4 |
66 |
43 |
| Oct | 26 |
2 |
60 |
57 |
| Nov | 50 |
7 |
73 |
71 |
| Dec | 21 |
2 |
46 |
65 |
| TOTAL | 240 |
21 |
435 |
361 |
Health and Safety Inspectors have a number of tools available to enforce compliance with the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (the Act). We use our professional judgement and the details of each situation to determine which option is appropriate.
Written warnings
Written warnings are issued where there is non-compliance with the Act identified by an inspector and where the non-compliance is put right to the satisfaction of the inspector before they leave the place of work. Written warnings are non-statutory notices but serve an evidential purpose as “prior warning” for issuing an infringement notice at a later date.
Improvement notices
Improvement notices are issued where an inspector has identified non-compliance but where the non-compliance is not remedied prior to the inspector leaving the place of work. As with written warnings, an improvement notice serves as “prior warning” for subsequently issuing an infringement notice.
Prohibition notices
An inspector will issue a prohibition notice if they believe that a failure to comply with a provision of the Act is likely to cause serious harm to any person. A prohibition notice may serve as “prior warning” for later issuing an infringement notice.
Infringement notices
An inspector may issue an infringement notice where they have reasonable grounds to believe the duty-holder is committing, or has committed, an infringement offence andthe person has had prior warning of the infringement offence and an enforcement action has not been taken against the same defendant in respect of the same matter by an inspector. An infringement fee, depending on the offence, can range between $100 and up to a maximum of $4,000.
Footnotes
[1] Based on the Written Warning or Notice issued date being between1 January and 24 December 2012 and the originating assessment or investigation activity recorded as being related to the Preventing Falls from Heights in Construction project.
[2] Notices and Warnings raised while undertaking project activity may also include other health and safety issues identified on the periphery of safe work at heights investigations or assessments.
[3] Preventing Falls from Height in Construction project officially commences with information delivery activity, although enforcement and compliance activity was occurring on the peripheral of this activity through related assessments and as a result of investigations.
[4] Assessment phase of the Preventing Falls from Height in Construction project officially commences.
