ABSTRACT
The occupational health and safety (OHS) statutes in Australia coupled obligations for the design and construction of machinery and other plant, with inspection and enforcement by the state, in a form of enforced self-regulation (Ayres and Braithwaite, 1992, pp. 101-6; Hutter, 2011, p. 12). Inspectors appointed under this legislation had (and continue to have) broad powers, to enter and inspect workplaces, investigate OHS matters, and receive information and assistance from those inspected (Johnstone 1997, ch. 7; 2004a, ch. 7; Johnstone, Bluff and Clayton, 2012, ch. 8). They could issue improvement notices requiring regulatees to remedy contraventions of the law, and prohibition notices to stop a work activity posing an immediate risk to health or safety. Failure to comply with such notices was a contravention of the OHS statutes. Inspectors could also initiate legal proceedings for non-compliance with a notice, and for suspected breaches of the designer and manufacturer obligations generally.
