An audit of WorkSafe’s regulation of asbestos removal has found significant gaps in its processes.
Tabling the Regulation of Asbestos Removal audit in Parliament, Auditor General, Caroline Spencer (pictured) said it assessed WorkSafe’s issuing and renewing of licences and its risk-based monitoring to reduce the risk of asbestos exposure.
“Although asbestos is a challenging area to regulate, given the significant risks to worker and community health, we expected WorkSafe to have established good practices for regulating asbestos removal,” Ms Spencer said.
“This was not what we found.
“There are several important areas where practices need to improve.”
She said WorkSafe’s regulatory actions were not risk-based, documentation was weak, and there was a lack of rigour and transparency in licensing approval controls.
“While WorkSafe performs regular office-based audits of licensees’ records and undertakes worksite inspections and investigations of some licensees, there are significant deficiencies in its overall monitoring and compliance activities,” Ms Spencer said.
“In particular, audits are not comprehensive, not consistently undertaken or documented, and do not routinely or regularly include worksite inspections when asbestos is removed.”
She said WorkSafe could not demonstrate that it targeted its inspection resources at the highest-risk employers or worksites.
“WorkSafe is also missing important opportunities to use asbestos-related data from the community and other Government entities, including a large volume of complaints received, to better target its compliance and awareness-raising activities,” Ms Spencer said.
She said her report included recommendations to strengthen WorkSafe’s regulation of asbestos removal.
She said she was pleased the new WorkSafe Commissioner accepted the findings and committed to building organisational and staff capability to better manage worker health measures.
“Many State and Local Government entities license or register businesses across a range of industries and they can consider application of the recommendations in this report where relevant to their own diverse regulatory regimes,” Ms Spencer said.
The Auditor General’s 25-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
