Workplace Safety and Health Act · 2024 Revised Edition · Part · Inspections and Other Powers of Enforcement
41. Powers of inspectors
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
An inspector shall, for the purposes of the execution of this Act, have power —
to enter, inspect and examine any workplace at any time;
at all reasonable times, to enter, inspect and examine any place which he has reasonable cause to believe to be —
a workplace; or
a place of which a workplace forms a part;
to inspect and examine any machinery, equipment, plant, installation or article in any place referred to in paragraph (a) or (b);
to require the production of workplace records, certificates, notices and documents kept or required to be kept under this Act, and to inspect, examine and make copies of any of them;
to make such examination and inquiry as may be necessary to ascertain whether the provisions of this Act are complied with, so far as regards any workplace and any person at work;
to require any person whom he finds in a workplace to give such particulars of the employer and the occupier of the workplace as are within his knowledge;
in the case of an inspector who is a registered medical practitioner, to carry out on any person who is or had been working in a workplace such medical examination as may be necessary for the purposes of his duties under this Act;
to take samples of any material or substance found in a workplace or being discharged from any workplace for the purpose of analysis or test;
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to assess the levels of noise, illumination, heat or harmful or hazardous substances in any workplace and the exposure levels of persons at work therein;
to require any hospital, medical clinic or mortuary to provide any information (including the medical records) of any person who is or had been working in a workplace who is injured in an accident in a workplace or who is suspected of suffering from an occupational disease contracted from a workplace and is receiving treatment at the hospital or medical clinic;
to take such photographs or video-recordings as he thinks necessary to record the conditions in a workplace and the processes carried on therein which may be dangerous to the safety or health of the persons at work therein;
to require any person to produce any article which is relevant to any investigation or inquiry under this Act and, if necessary, to take into custody any such article; and
to require any person whom he finds in the workplace to produce evidence of his identity.
Any person who is found in a workplace shall render all necessary assistance and co-operation to the inspector as is necessary for an entry, inspection, examination, inquiry, the taking of samples or otherwise for the exercise of his powers under this Act in relation to that workplace.
If entry to a workplace cannot be obtained, an inspector may —
break open any outer or inner door or window leading to the workplace;
forcibly enter such workplace and every part thereof; or
remove by force any obstruction to his entry, inspection, examination or inquiry.
Any person who —
obstructs or delays an inspector in the exercise of any of his powers under this section;
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fails to comply with any order of an inspector under this section, or fails to produce any record, certificate, notice or document which he is required by or under this Act to produce;
withholds any information as to who the employer or occupier of the workplace is; or
conceals or prevents, or attempts to conceal or prevent, a person from appearing before or being examined by an inspector, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.
Terms defined in s 4
at work
Defined · s 4“at work” means — (a) in relation to an employee, all times when the employee is performing work in connection with any trade, business, profession or undertaking carried on by his employer, wherever that work is carried out; (b) in relation to a self-employed person, all times when that person is performing work as a self-employed person, wherever the work is carried out; and (c) in any other case, all times when the person is performing work at the direction of the person who engaged him, wherever the work is carried out;
machinery
Defined · s 4“machinery” includes — (a) any oil engine, gas engine, steam engine and any other machine in which mechanical movement, either linear, rotated or both, takes place; (b) any steam boiler, gas cylinder, air receiver, steam receiver, steam container or refrigerating plant pressure receiver; (c) any appliance for transmission of power by ropes, belts, chains, driving straps or bands or gearing; and (d) any electrical generator or electrical motor, but does not include any machinery used solely for the propulsion of vehicles;
occupational disease
Defined · s 4“occupational disease” means any disease specified in Schedule 3;
occupier
Defined · s 4“occupier”, in relation to any premises or part of any premises, means — (a) in the case of a factory where a certificate of registration or a factory permit has to be obtained in relation to the premises pursuant to any regulations, the person who is, or is required to be, the holder of that certificate or permit; and (b) in the case of any other premises, the person who has charge, management or control of those premises either on his own account or as agent of another person, whether or not he is also the owner of those premises;
registered medical practitioner
Defined · s 4“registered medical practitioner” means a person registered under the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Act;