OSCA occupation

312234 Safety Inspector

Inspects machines, equipment, working conditions and public places to ensure compliance with government and industry standards and regulations in relation to work health and safety.

Major group: 3 Technicians and Trades Workers
Unit group: 3122 Construction and Safety Inspectors
Edition: OSCA 2024
Skill level: Level 2

Should you use OSCA or ANZSCO?

OSCA 2024 is the current Australian occupation classification for storing, organising and reporting occupation information. Use this OSCA record for current Australian statistical and analytical classification work.

Some migration and administrative programs still specify ANZSCO 2022. Check the exact system named by the agency or form rather than replacing the code automatically.

Check the current ABS guidance on OSCA and ANZSCO use

Official ANZSCO correspondence

ANZSCO 312611 Safety Inspector Exact correspondence in the ABS table

Role overview

Inspects machines, equipment, working conditions and public places to ensure compliance with government and industry standards and regulations in relation to work health and safety.

Use this page to confirm the official title, the parent unit group, the task list and the related ANZSIC industry context before using the occupation in classification, reporting or migration-adjacent workflows.

Occupation facts

Skill level: 2
Major group: 3 Technicians and Trades Workers
Sub-major group: 31 Building, Engineering, ICT and Scientific Technicians
Minor group: 312 Building and Construction Technicians
Unit group: 3122 Construction and Safety Inspectors

Tasks

Examines equipment specifications, and inspects and tests machines, equipment and clothing to monitor and enforce compliance with safety standards and serviceability
Inspects factories and other work sites to ensure compliance with government and industry standards and regulations
Investigates workplace accidents, incidents and complaints related to workplace health and safety
Assists in conducting safety meetings and campaigns, and organising training in general safety principles, in keeping with regulations
Advises organisations on ways to comply with work health and safety legislative and regulatory requirements
May issue notices to enforce immediate compliance under work health and safety legislation and if necessary, impose penalties or recommend prosecutions for breaches

Skill level guidance

Skill level helps place the occupation inside the ABS hierarchy. Use it as a classification cue, then check the actual task list and occupational context before making a decision for HR, visa or reporting work.

How to use this occupation page

Start with the official OSCA title and task list. Then confirm the parent unit group and compare the related occupations on this page if the job title is broad, overlapping or used differently across employers.

The ANZSIC links are there to help when the same occupation appears across several industries and you need the business-side classification as well.

Related occupations

Industry context

Alternative titles

No alternative titles are currently attached.

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Compare OSCA 312234 with related occupations

Compare roles in the same OSCA unit group by their official definition, skill level, tasks and recognised alternative titles.

Comparison point	Current code312234 Safety Inspector	312231 Building Inspector	312232 Energy Assessor
Official role definition	Inspects machines, equipment, working conditions and public places to ensure compliance with government and industry standards and regulations in relation to work health and safety.	Inspects and reports on the structural quality and safety of buildings. May perform tasks related to regulatory building inspection and reporting in support of Building Surveyors.	Assesses the energy efficiency of buildings by using computer modelling tools to predict the heating and cooling requirements of buildings based on the design, materials and construction.
Skill level	Skill Level 2	Skill Level 2	Skill Level 3
Key tasks	Examines equipment specifications, and inspects and tests machines, equipment and clothing to monitor and enforce compliance with safety standards and serviceability Inspects factories and other work sites to ensure compliance with government and industry standards and regulations Investigates workplace accidents, incidents and complaints related to workplace health and safety Assists in conducting safety meetings and campaigns, and organising training in general safety principles, in keeping with regulations	Undertakes pre-purchase building inspections on behalf of clients and prepares pre-purchase reports Identifies non-structural defects, structural issues, and conditions that may contribute to structural issues in buildings, and provides reports on their severity along with recommendations for a course of action to be undertaken within a suggested timeframe Advises builders, contractors and property owners on building regulations and requirements May carry out inspection of buildings to verify if building work complies with approved permits and legislative and building regulations, and produces reports on their non-compliance at the request of a Building Surveyor	Uses approved software and information from building plans to model potential consumption of energy for heating and cooling purposes to verify compliance with national building codes Assesses and certifies the thermal performance of buildings Advises on building orientation, materials and construction to improve thermal performance Measures and prepares reports on the energy use of buildings, including appliances, heating and cooling, and solar batteries
Alternative titles	Not stated	Not stated	Energy Efficiency Assessor Thermal Performance Assessor

Comparison uses occupation definitions, skill levels, tasks and title variants from the ABS OSCA data files.

In this section

Official source

Official source: ABS OSCA 2024 release and correspondence tables
Last reviewed: 2026-04-17

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