New report finds that workers routinely start before safety credentials are checked
Workers in Australia's high-risk industries are starting jobs before safety checks are complete, and it is happening far more often than employers may want to admit, new research shows.
Findings from a survey of more than 500 professionals by supply chain compliance firm Avetta revealed that 42% of respondents said workers often or sometimes begin work before all required safety checks or credentials have been fully verified.
The finding points to a systemic failure in how organisations manage contractor and supplier workforces on high-risk sites, including in construction, manufacturing, resources, and facilities management.
The risks of that gap are well-documented. SafeWork Australia data shows 188 workers lost their lives due to traumatic injuries in 2024, while there were 146,700 serious workers' compensation claims involving at least one week off work in 2023-24, more than 400 serious claims a day.
Employment lawyer Joel Hayden, practice group leader at LegalVision, has previously warned that the root cause is often structural rather than incidental.
"The consistent issue is poor systems. Businesses rely on informal processes rather than structured risk management, which creates gaps when conditions change," Hayden said.
A system under strain
That pattern appears reflected in the Avetta findings. Only 15% of respondents said they could verify in real-time that a worker was cleared to start, while 59% reported having limited, partial or no real-time visibility into who was on-site, their role or their risk profile.
Another 70% said safety or compliance decisions were made under time constraints at least sometimes.
Lynda Richards, Avetta's APAC Principal for HSE, said the results reflected a broader failure to treat risk as an interconnected system rather than a checklist.
"Health, safety, sustainability and psychosocial wellbeing are interconnected elements of a single organisational ecosystem," Richards said.
"Organisations that thrive will be those that understand, measure, and continuously challenge the relationships between these elements, turning complexity into resilience, performance and sustainable value."
Misalignment between departments compounds the problem. Seventy-two per cent of respondents said their safety, procurement and operations teams were only moderately, slightly or not aligned at all in managing supply chain risk.
Luke Boyle, Vice President of Operations, APAC at Avetta, said the challenge was fundamentally one of visibility and coordination.
"When organisations lack visibility into who is on-site, whether workers are fully qualified and what risks are emerging in real-time, it becomes harder to respond quickly and confidently," Boyle said.
"Closing that gap requires connected systems, stronger cross-functional alignment and a shared commitment to work readiness."
The consequences of falling short are significant. Fines for corporations can reach millions under harmonised workplace health and safety laws, and directors and officers may be held personally liable where due diligence obligations are not met.
"Businesses that actively identify risks, implement practical controls, and regularly review them through consultation are significantly less likely to face enforcement action," Hayden said.
