penalties

Documentation of every inspection and test must be maintained and be available on demand for Workcover inspection. For every business, large and small, these requirements are now mandatory and the penalties for non-compliance are heavy.

In April 2003 an employer was fined $180,000 plus costs after an employee was electrocuted.

Recent figures show, that in one year, Workcover conducted almost 50,000 workplace inspections with $5.4 million worth of fines being issued. In the case of electrical incidents, insurance companies may also refuse to pay full compensation for those companies that ignore these requirements.