• Legislation
  • How the legislation works
  • Amendments to workplace health and safety legislation
  • Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995
  • Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008
  • Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act 2001
  • Dangerous Goods Safety Management Regulation 2001
  • Ministerial notices
  • Codes of practice
  • Boards of inquiry
  • Workplace consultation
  • Regulatory impact statements
  • Provisional improvement notice (PIN)
  • Regulation of the storage and handling of dangerous goods
  • Regulatory jurisdictions
  • Prescribed infringement notice
• Harmonisation of OHS laws
• Prosecutions
  • Prosecutions list
  • Cause to prosecute
  • Defences
  • Appeals and internal review of decisions
  • Access to your information
  • Publishing policy
• Enforceable undertakings
  • Enforceable undertakings list
  • Enforceable undertakings process
• Compliance and enforcement
  • Who enforces the law?
  • Workplace audits
  • Compliance and enforcement policy
• Penalties
  • What is a breach?
  • What is the maximum penalty?
  • Fines
• Inspections
  • WHSQ inspectors
  • Workplace inspections
  • Inspectors' powers
  • Inspector conduct
  • Enforcement options
  • Complaints about WHSQ inspectors
  • Investigations

• Rights and obligations
• Risk management
• Workplace incidents and inspections

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Investigations

The Compliance and Enforcement Policy 2009 (PDF, 517 KB) outlines the criteria for escalation of investigation as well as the enforcement criteria and prosecution criteria.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland inspectors investigate workplace incidents to:

• determine their cause
• prevent similar incidents recurring at a workplace
• notify employers of incidents occurring within their industry
• prosecute offences against the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (PDF, 766 KB).

Investigations are undertaken in order to determine:

• compliance with the legislation
• causes
• whether action has been taken or needs to be taken to prevent a recurrence and to secure compliance with the legislation
• lessons to be learnt and to influence the legislation and policy, and
• what response is appropriate to an alleged breach of the legislation.

To maintain a proportionate response, most resources available for investigation of incidents will be devoted to the more serious circumstances. It is neither possible nor necessary to investigate all issues of non-compliance with the law which are uncovered in the course of preventive inspection, or in the investigation of reported events.

The Department will generally carry out an investigation of a reportable death; unless there are specific reasons for not doing so, in which case those reasons will be recorded, such as when the incident is outside the authority's jurisdiction.

In selecting which complaints or reports of incidents, injury or occupational ill health to investigate and in deciding the level of resources to be used, the Department will generally take account of the following factors:

• the severity and scale of potential or actual harm
• the seriousness of any potential breach of the law
• the obligation holder’s compliance history, including such matters as prior convictions and notices issued
• the enforcement priorities
• the practicality of achieving results
• the wider relevance of the event, including matters of significant community concern or emerging issues.

The Department, in determining whether or not a matter should be further investigated, will have regard to the following priority areas for investigation:

• fatalities and serious injuries or where there is a risk of such consequences
• damage to property or the environment caused by electricity or hazardous materials
• non-compliance with notices or directions
• offences against Department inspectors
• offences against persons exercising OHS responsibilities at the workplace (e.g. health and safety representatives, union officers or other persons authorised under the legislation)
• discrimination against employees on the basis of their OHS activities
• failure to notify incidents.

Where an investigation reveals non-compliance the Department will consider whether or not a prosecution should be commenced, or another sanction applied, or other appropriate action taken.

Find out more information about Workplace Health and Safety Queensland inspectors; including their role and powers under the legislation.