What does a Department of Labour health and safety inspector do?
An inspector promotes safe work by informing and educating. Primarily this involves helping employers and others understand the value of safety in relation to a successful business, hence the importance of a systematic approach to it.
In an ideal world such safety education (or injury prevention) work would be all an inspector is called upon to do. But accidents and incidents do occur that result in reports or complaints to the Department of Labour and a visit by an inspector to investigate.
An inspector has the legal right to enter any workplace, ask questions, gather information and take samples. (Note: It is an offence to obstruct or delay an Inspector in the course of performing his or her duties).
Once the inspector has ascertained the relevant facts there are a range of options open:
take no further action,
talk to the person about their safety practices,
write to the person about their safety practices,
for employee participation issues,
Date Modified: Monday, August 31, 2009
Disclaimer: The content on this website covers common problems. It will not answer every question
and should not be used as a substitute for legislation or legal advice. State sector employers
and employees may be affected by some differences in the laws that apply to them (e.g. State
Sector Act 1988). The Department of Labour takes no responsibility for the results of any actions taken
on the basis of information on this website, nor for any errors or omissions.
