Quick answer: A WHSQ inspector may examine physical workplace conditions, risk controls, documentation and records, worker consultation, training, and whether the business's documented safety processes are actually being implemented, not just written down.
A WHSQ inspection is different from an internal or third-party WHS audit. Where an audit is typically a planned, consulting-led review your business commissions, a WHSQ inspection is carried out by a government inspector under statutory powers, and can happen proactively, in response to a complaint, or following an incident.
What triggers a WHSQ inspection
Inspections can occur for a range of reasons: proactive compliance campaigns targeting a particular industry or hazard, a complaint from a worker or member of the public, a notifiable incident that's been reported, or as a follow-up to check that a previous notice has actually been complied with. Businesses don't always get advance notice, inspectors have the power to enter a workplace during working hours, or at any time they believe there's an immediate risk to health or safety.
What an inspector actually has the power to do
WHSQ and Electrical Safety Office inspectors carry significant statutory powers. They can require a person to tell them who has custody of a document, produce that document, or answer questions, including in writing, within a set period after entering the workplace. Where they identify a contravention, they're required to act on it, in some cases that means directing an immediate fix on the spot, and in others it means issuing a formal notice.
Two notices come up most often. An improvement notice directs a person to fix a specified problem by a set date, and is used where a contravention doesn't create a serious or immediate risk. A prohibition notice is more serious, it stops an activity immediately where the inspector believes there's a serious risk from immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard, and the inspector will follow up within five days to confirm the activity has actually stopped.
What this actually means for how you prepare
The businesses least caught out by a WHSQ inspection aren't the ones that scramble to tidy up when they hear an inspection might happen. They're the ones whose everyday documentation, risk assessments, training records, incident reporting, consultation records, already reflects how the business genuinely operates. An inspector is looking for the same gap a good internal audit looks for: the difference between what your system says should happen and what's actually happening on the ground.
If you disagree with an inspector's decision, certain decisions can be internally reviewed. Timeframes apply, and for an improvement notice the application must generally be made within the period stated in the notice or within 14 calendar days of the decision coming to the eligible person's notice, whichever is shorter. An application for review will generally stay enforcement of the original decision, however, this does not automatically apply to prohibition or non-disturbance notices, where a separate stay may need to be sought.
Frequently asked questions
Can a WHSQ inspector enter a workplace without notice?
Yes. Inspectors can enter during working hours, and at any time if they believe there's an immediate risk to health or safety, they aren't required to schedule inspections in advance.
What's the difference between an improvement notice and a prohibition notice?
An improvement notice requires a specified problem to be fixed by a set date. A prohibition notice stops an activity immediately because of a serious and immediate risk, and the inspector follows up within five days to confirm compliance.
Can you challenge a notice issued by a WHSQ inspector?
Yes, through an application for internal review, generally within 14 calendar days (or the period stated in the notice, if shorter, for an improvement notice). An improvement notice is generally stayed automatically once the application is lodged, but a prohibition or non-disturbance notice is not automatically stayed, a separate stay needs to be requested.
Getting ahead of an inspection
Want to know whether your current documentation and practices would hold up to a genuine WHSQ inspection? Overwatch Safety Solutions can review your WHS system against the same gaps a regulator would be looking for, before they find them for you.
Sources: WorkSafe Queensland, Inspectors, entry powers and conduct; Enforcement options; Review of decisions; Internal review of decision, guidance for applicants.