SA Ramps Up Site Visits and Height-safety Enforcement

SafeWork SA has sharply increased regulatory attention and enforcement activity across major South Australian industries with strong signals that inspections, notices and prosecutions are rising and will continue to intensify.

SafeWork SA’s 2025‑26 compliance campaigns now target priority sectors including construction, manufacturing, transport (especially road transport), forestry, healthcare and others with regular on‑site visits and compliance audits planned from 01 Jul 25. The focus is on spotting unsafe practices early and deterring poor safety systems before incidents occur.

Construction remains a key focus with targeted action against common injury causes, scaffold and fall risks and high‑risk activities.

The regulator has also lowered the high‑risk work height threshold from 3 m to 2 m in the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 (SA) to align with national standards, requiring SWMS and fall protection for more tasks from 01 Jul 26.

In road transport, joint enforcement with NHVR, SA Police and Australian Border Force will include truck stops and yard inspections aimed at heavy vehicle safety and duty‑holder compliance.

Manufacturing, healthcare and other priority industries are also being audited for systemic hazards and psychosocial risk controls.

On the enforcement side, SafeWork SA’s prosecutions page shows ongoing actions and judgments arising from compliance work. Recent annual data shows the highest number of convictions in over ten years with record fines exceeding $2 million, including for workplace deaths. Enforceable undertakings remain an alternative to prosecution where appropriate.

SafeWork SA has also boosted its compliance workforce to record levels to support these campaigns and enforcement activity.