Health and Safety Inspector - Working conditions
Kaimātai Hauora-Haumaru
Working Conditions
Health and safety inspectors work indoors and outdoors. They visit locations such as:
- offices
- shops
- factories
- forests
- industrial sites
- farms
- mines
- quarries
- construction sites.
Conditions vary, and may be noisy, dirty, confined or hazardous.
Health and safety inspectors may travel nationally and internationally to inspect different workplaces.
Health and safety inspectors may work in areas with hazardous chemicals
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An accident site sealed off due to a chemical spill
Equipment
Equipment health and safety inspectors may use includes:
- protective clothing such as a high-visibility safety jackets, hard hats, steel-capped boots, safety glasses, overalls and earmuffs
- specialist electronic equipment such as noise, airflow, heat, lighting and solvent monitoring equipment
- cameras
- measuring instruments
- electronic notebooks to record information
- pagers and cellphones
- vehicles.
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James Dodwell putting notes into his electronic notebook
Hours
Health and safety inspectors usually work regular hours. However, they sometimes work evenings and weekends and may be on call in case of emergency investigations.
Contact with people
When out in the field, health and safety inspectors usually work independently. They also liaise with a number of people, including:
- other occupational health and safety practitioners and professionals
- the public
- engineers
- the police
- doctors
- the Coroner's office
- lawyers
- local authorities and government agencies
- industry organisations.
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James Dodwell with a colleague investigating the source of a chemical spill
Health and safety inspectors liase with employers to check their machinery and equipment
Updated
September 2009
