A laboratory service company in Bendigo has been fined for breaching their OHS Act s.22 duty to monitor the health and conditions of their employees, and their duty to arrange for biological monitoring at a frequency defined by r.198 of the OHS Regulations.
On Site Laboratory Services Pty Ltd is a company that conducts lead processing works at their Bendigo workplace. Under regulation 198(1A) of the Regulations, an employer must arrange for biological monitoring of all employees engaged in lead-risk work at intervals prescribed by the Regulations. The term ‘lead risk work’ is defined at r.193(2) as ‘work performed in a lead process that is reasonably likely to cause the blood lead level of the employee to exceed [in the case of any person other than a woman of reproductive capacity] 0.97micromoles/litre (20 micrograms/decilitre)’.
On Site Laboratory Services receives core samples (mostly from mines), which they then break down to determine how much gold and other metals are contained in those samples. They do so by performing fire assay analysis of ore samples, a process that involves using lead to extract specific elements from pulverised rock samples. The term ‘lead process’ is defined at r.178(k) of the Regulations to include ‘fire assays, if lead is used’.
As On Site Laboratory Services’ employees were undertaking lead processing works using the fire assay process at the workplace and were engaged in lead-risk work under the Regulations, On Site Laboratory Services was required to arrange for biological monitoring of them in accordance with the intervals prescribed by regulation 198(1A) of the Regulations. Employees performing the fire assay process were exposed to lead during the addition of assay flux to the pots, the mixing of samples, the heating of pots, the pouring of the samples, the smashing of samples, and cupellation. They could also be exposed to lead contaminated dust, which settles throughout the building.
In September 2024, WorkSafe Inspectors attended On Site Laboratory Services to conduct an inspection. One of the attending Inspectors viewed the most recent pathology results of several of the offender’s employees who were performing lead-risk work at the workplace and determined that On Site Laboratory Services should have arranged for each of those employees to undergo a subsequent blood test by the prescribed date, but had failed to do so. An Improvement Notice was issued a week later and was complied with by the following month.
On Site Laboratory Services had also been visited by WorkSafe three years before, following a notification that a blood sample of a person working at the workplace had exceeded 1.45micromoles/litre. During WorkSafe’s attendance on that occasion, the Inspectors had also observed workers working in the fire assay area of the workplace and had been informed that five workers had been removed from the fire assay area due to them having blood lead levels above an acceptable level.
HSRs can learn more about the hazards of working with lead at our OHS Lead pages here and here. WorkSafe also publishes a comprehensive range of guidance for employers about their duties relating to the risks of working with lead:
· Compliance code: Lead | WorkSafe Victoria
· Lead: Safety basics | WorkSafe Victoria
· Lead at work: Legal duties | WorkSafe Victoria
· Lead-risk work: Notification of work | WorkSafe Victoria
· Are you performing lead-risk work? | WorkSafe Victoria
· Health risks of working with lead - handling lead powder compounds | WorkSafe Victoria
· Blood lead testing schedule for employees doing lead risk work | WorkSafe Victoria
On Site Laboratory Services were sentenced by the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court to a fine of $10,000 without conviction.
In February 2025 the Sentencing Advisory Council released a report to the Victorian Government making 12 recommendations for reform regarding the sentencing of OHS offences in Victoria. This included significantly increasing maximum penalties for breaching OHS duties in line with community expectations. The Victorian Government is yet to provide a response to this report.
Read more: Bendigo lab fined $10,000 over lead testing failures | WorkSafe Victoria