Workplace Safety and Health Act · 2024 Revised Edition · Part · Inspections and Other Powers of Enforcement
42. Power to take samples
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
An inspector may, at any time after informing the occupier of a workplace or any person apparently in charge of the workplace, take for analysis sufficient samples of —
any substance used or intended to be used in the workplace;
any substance found in the workplace that is required for the purposes of an investigation or inquiry under this Act;
any substance the use or presence of which in the workplace is suspected to be prohibited under this Act; or
any substance found in the workplace which, in his opinion, is likely or may prove on analysis to be likely to cause bodily injury to the persons at work in the workplace.
The occupier of a workplace or any person apparently in charge of the workplace may, at the time when a sample is taken under this section, and on providing the necessary appliances, require the inspector to divide the sample into three parts, to mark and seal or fasten up each part in such manner as its nature permits, and —
occupier
“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;
to deliver one part to the occupier of the workplace or the person apparently in charge of the workplace;
to retain one part for future comparison; and
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to submit one part to any testing laboratory as the Authority may appoint, for analysis.
A certificate purporting to be a certificate by an analyst employed by the testing laboratory appointed by the Authority under subsection 2(c) as to the result of an analysis of a sample under this section shall be admissible in any proceedings under this Act as evidence of the matters stated therein, but either party may require the person by whom the analysis was made to be called as a witness.
No person shall interfere with any equipment, instrument or device used for monitoring the workplace or taking samples for analysis.
Any person who —
contravenes subsection (4); or
without the written permission of the Authority, publishes or discloses to any person the results of any analysis made under this section, 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;
bodily injury
Defined · s 4“bodily injury” includes injury to health, the contraction of a disease, and the aggravation, acceleration or recurrence of any bodily injury or disease;
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;