Safety inspector scam

A 25-year-old South Australian man has been convicted by the Industrial Court for impersonating a SafeWork SA inspector and fined $15,000 plus court costs.

Between October 2013 and February 2014, the man reportedly attended approximately seven businesses and residential properties across Adelaide, claiming to be an authorised work health and safety inspector.

Concerned businesses made complaints of the man’s illegal activities via the SafeWork SA Help Centre phone line.

SafeWork SA reported that Presiding Industrial Magistrate Lieschke indicated that the conviction was based on the number of offences, and individual deterrence was an important sentencing consideration.

“In my view these are serious offences — they involved risk to the community, damage to the credibility of SafeWork SA and to professional work health safety consultants,” said Magistrate Lieschke.

The man had reportedly never been employed by the state’s work health and safety regulator or appointed an inspector as required by the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA).

“SafeWork SA inspectors are entrusted with responsibility and accountability under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) and it’s important that businesses and workers know that they are allowing authorised officers to enter their workplaces,” said SafeWork SA Executive Director Marie Boland.

“SafeWork SA inspectors, readily identifiable by their uniform, always carry authorised photo identification and provide their full name on arrival at any worksite.”

Businesses are being encouraged to ask for proof of identity of any unknown person seeking access to their work areas, as well as to report suspicious behaviour to SafeWork SA by phoning 1300 365 255 or emailing help@safework.sa.gov.au. 

Image caption: An Elvis impersonator, image courtesy of veggiefrog under CC-BY-2.0

Originally published here.