Preparing for a WHSQ inspection
A WHSQ (Workplace Health and Safety Queensland) inspector can walk onto your site without notice and without your permission. They will ask who is in charge, look at the work, and then ask for documents in a fairly predictable order. Have the documents, be straight with them, fix what they find, and most visits end with a conversation rather than a notice.
Their powers, in plain English
Inspectors are appointed under the WHS Act 2011 (Qld). On a construction site they can enter with or without the consent of the person in control, and they do not have to give notice. The main exception is premises used only as a residence — but a house under renovation with your crew on it is a workplace.
Once they are in, they can:
- Inspect, examine and take photos, measurements and samples.
- Ask who has custody of or access to documents.
- Require you to produce documents you have or can get.
- Require you to answer questions, either then and there or by attending at a reasonable time and place. Since May 2024 that can be done by audio or video link.
- Issue a written notice, within 30 days of the visit, requiring documents or written answers.
Refusing, obstructing or lying to an inspector is an offence on its own. Don't.
What they ask for, in order
The pattern I have seen over 35 years:
- Who is the PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking) and who is the principal contractor? If the project is $250,000 or more, there must be one principal contractor with signage saying so.
- WHS management plan — mandatory on projects of $250,000 or more. They will check it names people and responsibilities, covers consultation, incidents, site rules and how SWMS are managed.
- SWMS (Safe Work Method Statements) for whatever high risk construction work is happening in front of them. If a bloke is on a roof, they want the falls SWMS, and they want it on site, not in the office.
- Induction records — white cards sighted and site induction done for the people they can see working.
- High risk work licences for anyone doing licensed high risk work — scaffolding, forklifts, dogging, rigging.
- Plant and electrical — test-and-tag records, RCDs (residual current devices), scaffold handover certificates, plant registration where required.
- Asbestos on older buildings — the register if one exists, the removalist's licence, the five-day notification.
- Incident records if there has been a notifiable incident, plus proof it was notified.
The physical stuff — edge protection, trench shoring, leads in puddles — is what drives the notices. The paperwork decides whether it is a warning or something worse.
Improvement notice vs prohibition notice
Improvement notice. Issued when the inspector believes you are breaking the law, or have broken it and are likely to again, but the risk is not immediate. It must state which part of the law, how it is being broken, what you must do, and the date by which you must have done it. You keep working. Fix it by the date. The inspector will check.
Prohibition notice. Issued when the inspector reasonably believes an activity involves, or will involve, a serious risk to someone's health or safety. It is given verbally first, then confirmed in writing. That activity stops, right now, until the risk is removed. The inspector will follow up within five days to confirm the activity is still stopped or has been made safe.
Two others you may meet. An infringement notice is an on-the-spot fine — there are more than 240 offences they can be issued for. A non-disturbance notice preserves an incident site for up to seven days, with exceptions for helping the injured, securing the site or assisting police.
Not complying with an improvement or prohibition notice is a serious offence in itself. If you think the notice is wrong, do not ignore it — you can lodge a request for an internal review of the inspector's decision. Comply in the meantime.
How to handle the visit
- Ask for identification. That is normal, not rude.
- One person deals with them. You or your site supervisor. Everyone else keeps working, safely.
- Walk with them. Answer what is asked. Don't guess — "I'll check and get back to you" is a fine answer.
- Hand over the binder. Plan, SWMS, induction register, inspection checklists, incident forms. All in one place and dated, the visit gets shorter.
- Fix the obvious on the spot. A missing guardrail that goes back on while they watch is a very different conversation from one you argue about.
- Write down what happened. Inspector's name, time, what they looked at, what they said. Keep any notice with the job file.
- Do what the notice says, by the date, and keep proof. Photos, receipts, a signed-off checklist.
Before they ever arrive
The best inspection prep is a weekly site inspection using your own checklist. If you find and fix it Monday, the inspector finds nothing Thursday. Six months of signed checklists shows a pattern of supervision — worth more in front of a magistrate than any policy document.
Inspectors are not the enemy. They are looking for people who are trying and people who are not, and the paperwork is how they tell the difference in the first ten minutes.
Sources
- WorkSafe Queensland — Inspectors, entry powers and conduct
- WorkSafe Queensland — Enforcement options
- WorkSafe Queensland — Principal contractors
General information only — not legal advice. If you receive a notice or are being investigated, get advice from a lawyer or your industry association.