SafeWork SA is responsible for ensuring work health and safety (WHS) and public safety standards are met.

Our inspectors conduct workplace visits to provide advice and information to businesses and workers to help them improve WHS practices.

This can involve identifying safety issues and enforcing compliance with WHS laws, including by issuing statutory notices.

Inspectors may conduct workplace visits:

• in response to an incident
• in response to a complaint
• as part of a targeted proactive compliance campaign.

Inspectors are involved in:

• securing compliance with legislation related to workplace and community safety
• conducting investigations into workplace incidents and legislative breaches
• delivering projects aimed at reducing fatalities, serious injuries and illness
• providing specialist compliance advice and assistance
• regulating licences and accredited third party providers
• contributing to the development of guidance materials and policy
• working with employers to assist them in creating and maintaining workplaces where employees return home safely.

This team’s role encompasses hospitality, accommodation, health services, and certain trades.

It covers venues ranging from cafes, pubs and restaurants to campsites, caravan parks and hotels.

Hospitals, aged care facilities, and disability support services provided in a facility and in-home, are also included.

The team is also responsible for State Government departments and electrical, plumbing and veterinary services.

The Construction and Utilities Team's role is to regulate the construction sector, consisting of commercial, residential and civil sectors.

The team also regulates the utilities sector, consisting of such things as power, gas, water supply and sewerage and waste management.

The Construction and Utilities Team responds to a number of reactive complaints and notifiable incident notifications.

The team also actions a number of proactive compliance campaign activities in line with SafeWork SA strategic goals.

The High Risk Work Team’s role is to administer licensing processes and regulate Accredited Assessors, Asbestos Assessors and Asbestos Removal Licences.

The team audits Accredited Assessors and affiliated Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to ensure the standard of high-risk work licensing in South Australia meets the expectations of workers, businesses and community.

The team monitors accredited assessor conduct in the 29 classes of high-risk work, including working with cranes, forklifts, scaffolding, rigging and pressure vessels.

Face-to-face and desktop audits are conducted to determine compliance with infrastructure used during assessments, including training rooms and equipment.

The HRW Team also audits Asbestos License holders and Asbestos Assessors to ensure the standard of asbestos removal meets the legislative requirements of Work Health and Safety Regulations and approved codes of practice.

Desktop and site-based audits are conducted to determine compliance.

This team undertakes complex and diverse investigations into serious offences against the Work Health and Safety Act.

These offences have resulted in significant injuries or fatalities.

Investigators conduct interviews, collect evidence and exhibits whilst evaluating and assessing admissible evidence to provide comprehensive briefs to the Crown Solicitors Office that are capable of withstanding executive, ministerial, judicial and public scrutiny.

This is essential in ensuring businesses understand poor workplace practices will not be tolerated.

Manufacturing includes workplaces that make products ranging from small components to white goods and agricultural, electrical and defence equipment to medical devices and engines.

The team’s work involves ensuring equipment is correctly maintained and operated, including that safety mechanisms are activated.

Primary industries incorporates sites that grow any products, such as fruit, vegetables, plants, crops or flowers. It also covers animal husbandry, including rearing cattle and sheep, at farms.

This team covers all industries monitored by SafeWork SA.

Psychosocial hazards can involve harmful behaviours, such as bullying or sexual harassment.

It also includes remote and isolated work, poor organisational justice and poor or unrealistic work procedures.

Industrial relates to State Industrial Relations, primarily Long Service Leave.

Inspectors assist in determining a worker’s entitlements and ensure employers meet their obligations around the provision and payment of leave.

The primary focus of the team is compliance and enforcement however Inspectors also take the time to educate employers.

With offices in Port Pirie, Port Lincoln, Whyalla and Mount Gambier, this team covers all of regional South Australia, excluding the Riverland which is serviced from the Adelaide office.

Regional inspectors are responsible for the majority of industry sectors, including construction, manufacturing and primary industries, transport, wholesale and retail, engineering and community and business services.

Like the Keswick teams, the regional team also undertakes dangerous substance inspections within their area.

Any Major Hazard Facility or Mining operation is serviced by specialist teams from the Adelaide office.

Wholesale can include inspections of large-scale operations that supply products in bulk to retailers and other businesses.

Transport is a broad sector that includes buses, taxis, trams, trains and boats and ground-based incidents at airports. It extends to mobile plant and equipment such as trucks, vans, forklifts and utes.

Retail workplaces range from outdoor markets, supermarkets and shopping malls to corner shops and major stores and incorporates the safety of customers as well as workers.

The Technical Services Team conducts technical assessments on licences, registrations and approvals essential to South Australian Industry.

The team actions complaints and notifiable incidences and provides advice to the inspectorate on matters that fall within their specialist area.

Scientists, engineers, psychologists and people who bring knowledge of mining and explosives are among the team’s specialists.

This team provides technical expertise and support across the whole agency for matters relating to plant and associated equipment in most industry sectors.

These sectors range from aquaculture, agriculture, forestry, manufacturing, construction, mining and medical to amusement rides.

The team’s primary focus is on authorisations of high-risk plant, such as cranes, pressure equipment, elevating work platforms, vehicle hoists, passenger lifts, and amusement rides.

This team focuses on businesses and workers involved with defined hazardous chemicals and explosives.

Chemicals can include acids, alkalis and flammable liquids used for a wide range of purposes, including at petrol stations and in distilleries and manufacturing.

Explosives includes products used in mining, quarrying and fireworks at sporting, music and community events.

The team conducts technical assessments a number of licences, including for factories to manufacture explosives, premises where they can be stored, how they can be transported, sold, and operated by a pyrotechnician.

This team focuses on industrial sites that store, handle or process large quantities of hazardous chemicals that have the potential for major incidents.

Sites could be petroleum oil refineries, chemical manufacturing and gas processing and storage plants as well as large warehouses.

The team advise on process safety, evaluate Safety Management plans, administer Major Hazard Facility licences. conduct audits to verify safety measures and their effectiveness and evaluate safety performance.

The team specialises in the regulation of mines and quarries, including major mine sites and small-scale operations.

This includes equipment used for exploration and drilling for copper, gold, uranium, opal and gravel.

Work involves checking compliance of large-scale earthmoving equipment and machinery as well as hazardous chemicals and explosives.

The team works closely with the Department for Energy and Mining and the Environment Protection Authority, SA.

The unit’s main function is to provide technical and specialist advice to all functional areas of SafeWork SA on:

• ergonomics (such as designing the work environment and systems to suit human capabilities)
• Hazardous manual tasks (work design that contributes to body stressing injuries (musculoskeletal disorders), such as work that involves awkward and sustained
  postures, repetitive movement, force and vibration)
• Slips, trips and falls at level (design of the work environments that contribute to
  incidents of this type at level
• occupational hygiene (anticipating, recognising, evaluating and controlling
  workplace hazards which can be biological, chemical and physical, such as exposure
  to toxic fumes or chemicals and other safety risks
• psychosocial hazards (such as high work demands and bullying) and risks to safety and psychological and physical health.

The Work Environment Team also represent SafeWork SA at a state and national level on a number of technical committees to help inform policy.

Leading contemporary regulation to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces.

Professionalism
Respect
Integrity
Service

These values influence how our staff work together to achieve our vision.

They were shaped with input from staff and are embedded everything we do.

SafeWork SA has two public facing functions,

The Regulator arm has power to investigate workplace incidents and enforce work health and safety laws in South Australia.

The Educator arm provides advice and education on work health and safety, state‑based industrial relations, and facilitates licences and registration for workers and plant.