❓ Hon. Kate Doust's QoN seeks detailed data on WorkSafe's improvement notices, including industry breakdown, remediation times, compliance, extensions, and reviews. The Department of Commerce cites WISE database limitations in providing comprehensive answers, but provides some aggregate data.
AnsweredQoN 207Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the WorkSafe division within the Department of Commerce and I ask, in relation to the annual reporting periods 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013: (a) how many improvement notices were issued by WorkSafe, by industry: (i) what was the average time taken to remedy (fix) an alleged breach; (ii) how many alleged breaches were not completed by the compliance date; and (iii) what action was taken by WorkSafe to follow-up on matters not completed by the compliance date; (b) how many request for an extensions to the compliance deadline for improvement notices: (i) were made; (ii) were granted; and (iii) were not granted; and (c) how many requests for review of improvement notices were made: (i) of these, how may notices were affirmed, modified or cancelled?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
10 September 2013
Responded by
Minister for Commerce
Response time
35 days
The Department of Commerce advises:
(a) The WorkSafe Information System Environment (WISE) is not a database designed for reporting/data extraction purposes, it is a case management system. WISE does not record the number of improvement notices issued categorised by industry. The total number of improvement notices issued is as follows:
2009/10 - 10,648
2010/11 - 10,419
2011/12 - 8,216
2012/13 - 11,972
(i) When issuing an improvement notice, WorkSafe inspectors stipulate a period of time within which the recipient is required to comply. The compliance period varies according to the particular breach. As such, there is no "average" time to remedy a breach.
(ii) The information recorded in WISE, is not kept in a manner that enables these statistics to be provided.
(iii) Each improvement notice records the due date for compliance and is flagged on WISE. The recipient is required to sign and return the slip to WorkSafe by the due date as confirmation of compliance with the requirements of the notice. In each case where compliance slips have not been returned, up to three follow up letters are sent. If there is no response from the recipient of the notice after the third letter, action is taken by the inspector who issued the notice. The specific action taken would depend on individual circumstances of the matter.
(b) (i) A variety of requests can be made of the WorkSafe Western Australia Commissioner, by recipients pertaining to improvement notices. Upon receipt of the request at WorkSafe the information recorded in WISE is not in a format that enables the extraction of specific requests pertaining to time. Therefore information pertaining to the overall number of time extension requests is not available.
(ii) WISE records the number of occasions when time extensions were approved;
2009/10 - 796 requests were affirmed with time extended
2010/11 - 787 requests were affirmed with time extended
2011/12 - 525 requests were affirmed with time extended
2012/13 - 633 requests were affirmed with time extended
(iii) The information recorded in WISE is not kept in a manner that enables the statistics to be provided. Only outcomes of improvement notice review requests are recorded in WISE.
(c) (i) Please see tabled paper No:
(a) The WorkSafe Information System Environment (WISE) is not a database designed for reporting/data extraction purposes, it is a case management system. WISE does not record the number of improvement notices issued categorised by industry. The total number of improvement notices issued is as follows:
2009/10 - 10,648
2010/11 - 10,419
2011/12 - 8,216
2012/13 - 11,972
(i) When issuing an improvement notice, WorkSafe inspectors stipulate a period of time within which the recipient is required to comply. The compliance period varies according to the particular breach. As such, there is no "average" time to remedy a breach.
(ii) The information recorded in WISE, is not kept in a manner that enables these statistics to be provided.
(iii) Each improvement notice records the due date for compliance and is flagged on WISE. The recipient is required to sign and return the slip to WorkSafe by the due date as confirmation of compliance with the requirements of the notice. In each case where compliance slips have not been returned, up to three follow up letters are sent. If there is no response from the recipient of the notice after the third letter, action is taken by the inspector who issued the notice. The specific action taken would depend on individual circumstances of the matter.
(b) (i) A variety of requests can be made of the WorkSafe Western Australia Commissioner, by recipients pertaining to improvement notices. Upon receipt of the request at WorkSafe the information recorded in WISE is not in a format that enables the extraction of specific requests pertaining to time. Therefore information pertaining to the overall number of time extension requests is not available.
(ii) WISE records the number of occasions when time extensions were approved;
2009/10 - 796 requests were affirmed with time extended
2010/11 - 787 requests were affirmed with time extended
2011/12 - 525 requests were affirmed with time extended
2012/13 - 633 requests were affirmed with time extended
(iii) The information recorded in WISE is not kept in a manner that enables the statistics to be provided. Only outcomes of improvement notice review requests are recorded in WISE.
(c) (i) Please see tabled paper No:
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.