When a WorkSafe inspector attends your workplace and identifies a problem, they have three formal enforcement tools available. Each serves a different purpose, carries different obligations, and demands a different response. This post explains all three.
1. Improvement Notice (section 111)
What it is: A written direction to fix a specific contravention of the OHS Act or Regulations within a set timeframe.
When it's issued: The inspector reasonably believes you are contravening the law, or have done so in circumstances where the contravention is likely to continue or be repeated. The contravention does not need to involve an immediate danger. It could be a missing risk assessment, inadequate training, or a failure to consult with workers about a hazard.
Timeframe: Typically 7 to 28 days. However, the inspector sets the deadline based on the complexity and urgency of the issue.
Your obligations: Comply within the stated timeframe. You may request a review by the Internal Review Unit (IRU) within the statutory timeframe. Failure to comply is an indictable offence, separate from the original breach.
Practical response: Identify the underlying risk, consult your workers, implement controls that are reasonably practicable, document your actions, and notify WorkSafe before the deadline.
2. Prohibition Notice (section 112)
What it is: A written direction to immediately stop an activity that poses a serious and immediate risk to health or safety.
When it's issued: The inspector reasonably believes that an activity occurring at the workplace involves, or will involve, an immediate risk to the health or safety of any person. This is the most serious enforcement tool short of prosecution.
Timeframe: Immediate. The activity must cease as soon as the notice is issued. You cannot resume the activity until the notice is lifted by an inspector.
Your obligations: Stop the activity immediately. Do not resume until an inspector confirms the risk has been adequately addressed and lifts the notice. You may request a review by the IRU, but the notice remains in force during the review unless the IRU or a court orders otherwise. Failure to comply is an indictable offence.
Practical response: Stop the activity. Secure the area. Assess what needs to change before work can safely resume. Contact WorkSafe to discuss what they need to see before they will lift the notice. Do not attempt to resume the activity until the notice is formally lifted.
A prohibition notice is not something you negotiate around. It means an inspector looked at what was happening and determined that someone could be seriously injured or killed if the activity continued.
3. Non-Disturbance Notice (section 110)
What it is: A written direction to preserve a scene. Nothing may be moved, altered, or interfered with.
When it's issued: The inspector believes it is necessary to preserve the scene to perform their functions or exercise their powers under the OHS Act. This typically happens after a serious incident like a death, a serious injury, or a dangerous occurrence where the inspector needs to investigate what happened or call in a specialist to assess the cause.
Timeframe: The notice specifies the period for which the site must be preserved. It remains in force until the inspector lifts it or the specified period expires.
Your obligations: Do not disturb, move, or alter anything at the scene. Do not allow anyone else to disturb the scene. Failure to comply is an offence.
Practical response: Secure the area. Prevent anyone from entering, cleaning up, moving equipment, or altering the scene. Cooperate with the inspector's investigation. If you need to disturb the scene for safety reasons, for example, to rescue an injured person or prevent further harm, you may do so but document what you did and why.
How do these relate to each other?
The three notices are independent. An inspector can issue any combination of them based on what they find. A single workplace visit could result in:
- A non-disturbance notice (to preserve an incident scene)
- A prohibition notice (to stop the activity that caused the incident)
- An improvement notice (to address the underlying systemic failure that allowed the incident to happen)
Or it could result in a single improvement notice for a minor procedural issue. The response is scaled to the risk.
The common thread
All three notices share one thing: they are formal legal instruments with consequences for non-compliance. They are not suggestions. They are not warnings. If you receive any of them, you have a legal obligation to act.
The best approach to all three is the same: understand what the inspector has identified, take it seriously, act promptly, consult your workers, and document what you do. If you believe a notice has been issued incorrectly, use the formal review process through IRU and don't simply ignore it.