Risk Assessment

Compliance tracking

Digital forms

Pre-start inspections

Construction

Risk assessment: complete guide

Pre-Start Inspection

A pre-start inspection is a systematic check performed on plant, equipment, or vehicles before each use or shift to identify defects, damage, or unsafe conditions. It typically follows a standardised checklist covering safety-critical items such as brakes, steering, lights, tyres, guards, fluid levels, and warning devices. Pre-start inspections are a legal requirement under workplace health and safety regulations in Australia and are similarly required in other jurisdictions, including OSHA equipment inspection requirements in the United States and PUWER requirements in the United Kingdom.

Compliance Management

Compliance management in asset-intensive industries is the systematic process of ensuring that equipment, operations, and personnel meet all applicable regulatory, safety, environmental, and contractual requirements. It encompasses tracking inspection due dates, certifications, licences, safety checks, environmental obligations, and industry-specific standards. Compliance management requires both proactive scheduling and thorough record-keeping.

WHS compliance software

WHS compliance software is a digital WHS management system that helps organisations meet Work Health and Safety obligations by managing inspections, incident records, risk assessments, corrective actions, contractor compliance, regulatory reporting and audit trails. It replaces paper registers, spreadsheets and email chains with a searchable system of record that shows what was checked, when it was checked, who completed it, what failed and what evidence was attached.

Lockout/Tagout (LOTO)

Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) is a safety procedure used to ensure that equipment is properly shut down, isolated from all energy sources, and cannot be restarted until maintenance or repair work is completed. Lockout involves physically locking energy isolation devices (such as circuit breakers or valves) in the off position, while tagout involves attaching a warning tag to the isolation point. LOTO protects workers from the unexpected release of hazardous energy during servicing.

Job Safety Analysis (JSA)

A Job Safety Analysis is a structured risk assessment technique that breaks a work task into its component steps, identifies the hazards present at each step, and documents the control measures required to eliminate or minimise those hazards. The JSA process typically involves observing the task, consulting with workers who perform it, listing each step in sequence, identifying what could go wrong at each step, and recording the controls that should be applied, following the hierarchy of controls from elimination through to personal protective equipment. JSAs are widely used across construction, mining, manufacturing, oil and gas, and logistics to ensure that hazards are systematically identified and addressed before work begins. They are often completed collaboratively by the work crew at the start of a shift or before a non-routine task. The completed JSA serves as both a planning tool and a communication document that every crew member reads and signs before commencing work, ensuring shared understanding of the hazards and the agreed controls.

Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS)

A Safe Work Method Statement is a documented procedure that describes the high-risk construction work to be carried out, the hazards associated with that work, and the control measures that will be implemented to manage those hazards. In Australia, a SWMS is a legal requirement under WHS Regulations for 19 categories of high-risk construction work, including work at heights above two metres, work near live electrical installations, work involving demolition, and work in or near confined spaces. The SWMS must be prepared before the high-risk work commences, must be specific to the job and site conditions, and must be readily accessible to workers performing the task. Workers must be consulted during its development and sign on to confirm they understand the documented controls. A SWMS is a living document that should be reviewed and updated whenever site conditions, personnel, or scope change. The document typically includes the project and task description, the names and qualifications of workers, a step-by-step breakdown of the work, identified hazards at each step, risk ratings, and the specific control measures to be applied.

Working at Heights

Working at heights refers to any work performed in a location where a person could fall a distance likely to cause injury. In Australia, this generally means any task carried out 2 metres or more above ground level, though the risk applies at any height where a fall hazard exists. It includes work on roofs, scaffolds, ladders, elevated work platforms (EWPs), and open edges. Controls follow the hierarchy: eliminate the need for height work first, then use passive fall prevention, work positioning, and finally fall arrest systems.