House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-07-14 Daily Xml

Contents

SAFEWORK SA

451 Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (24 February 2009). What procedures are in place to ensure that service records of industrial equipment inspected by SafeWork SA are accurate and that the servicing of inspected equipment has been carried out by qualified personnel?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development): I am advised that:

Under the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1995, the owner of industrial equipment is required to ensure that the equipment is serviced, checked, tested and inspected regularly by competent person(s) suitably qualified by experience, training or both, to carry out the servicing and inspections to ensure the equipment is safe to operate and use.

When an inspector carries out an audit of an item of a plant, or when an inspector comes across an item which appears not to have been inspected or maintained in a safe condition, the inspection can ask to see the inspection or maintenance records.

Where appropriate, the inspector can also require the workplace or owner of plant to organise an inspection of the plant item by a competent person and/or review the records of the competent person. This regulatory action can be enforced by issuing an Improvement notice or a Prohibition Notice where there is an immediate risk to the health and safety of people working at, or near, the vicinity of the item of plant.