The OHS Inspectorate - AMSA

OHS Compliance and AMSA ►AMSA performs the occupational health and safety Inspectorate function under the OHS Maritime Industry Act. It has responsibilities to: -Ensure, in accordance with the Act and regulations, that the requirement to report serious personal injuries, deaths and dangerous occurrences and other obligations imposed by or under the OHS(MI) Act and regulation are complied with; -Advise operators, employees or contractors, on OHS matters; -Provide the Seacare Authority with information; -Ensure the health and safety of seafarers on ships and prescribed units under the OHS(MI) Act; and -AMSA works with the Seacare Authority to improve awareness of OH&S issues on ships and encourages a safety culture aimed at preventing death of injury in the maritime industry.

Health and Safety Reps ►Health and Safety Representatives (HSR’s) play a pivotal role in keeping workplaces safe; ►By representing workers in their work group, HSR’s provide a means for workers to raise safety issues within their workplace, and follow a process with employers to resolve them; ►The power to issue Provisional Improvement Notices (PIN’s); and ►Anywhere these issues are resolved successfully we avoid the human and financial costs of workplace injuries.

Aims of the Inspectorate What AMSA is doing at the moment? ►Promoting a higher level of interaction between HSR’s, operators / employers and AMSA through forums such as this; ►Inclusion of HSR’s on OHS audits to be mandatory when conducting an OHS audit; ►Establishing direct contact with industry to enhance process of audits – start with knowledge building “friendly” audits and then move to expectation of compliance adherence; ►In relation to recent changes to the OHS Audit scheme, long standing provisions AMSA expects to see compliance; ►OHS audits to be stepped up to possible bi annual audits – to encourage compliance to a higher level; ►Targeting of non-reporting of injuries during future OHS audits; and ►Slips, trips and falls and manual tasks will receive increased attention as significant improvement in these types of injury would substantially reduce the overall number of incidents.

Contact AMSA for OHS information Phone: (02) Web: