{"id":7446,"date":"2020-07-27T05:43:01","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T05:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=7446"},"modified":"2020-07-27T05:43:01","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T05:43:01","slug":"inspector-numbers-boosted-ahead-of-covid-safety-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/07\/27\/inspector-numbers-boosted-ahead-of-covid-safety-crackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"INSPECTOR NUMBERS BOOSTED AHEAD OF COVID SAFETY CRACKDOWN"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Inspector numbers have been boosted and their powers increased under the\u00a0<em>NSW Public Health Act 2010<\/em>\u00a0in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19.<br \/>\nVenues found to be flouting the NSW Government\u2019s new COVID safety measures face fines, and could even be shut down, as part of a joint operation between Liquor &amp; Gaming NSW, SafeWork and Fair Trading.<br \/>\nNew measures were imposed on pubs last Friday and are being extended to casinos, clubs, and bars, as well as all cafes and restaurants from Friday 25 July.<br \/>\nIn addition to Liquor &amp; Gaming NSW inspectors, SafeWork and Fair Trading staff will also be conducting inspections from this weekend, bringing the total number of inspectors to more than 250.<br \/>\nMinister for Customer Service Victor Dominello said stricter conditions and increased supervision are crucial to keep the economy in business.<br \/>\n\u201cBusinesses must be part of the solution if they want to stay open and look after their communities,\u201d Mr Dominello said.<br \/>\n\u201cRight now if they haven\u2019t downloaded a COVID-19 Safety plan and registered as a COVID Safe Business they are contravening the Public Health Orders and could face a $5000 fine and then closure.\u201d<br \/>\nMinister for Better Regulation Kevin Anderson said premises where food and drink is consumed pose a higher risk for several key reasons.<br \/>\n\u201cBeing indoors for longer periods while eating and drinking, and the potential for mingling are all factors that make COVID more communicable. Add alcohol, later trading hours and venue capacity, and the potential for transmission escalates,\u201d Mr Anderson said.<br \/>\n\u201cHaving the right measures in place will make sure employees and customers are protected. I urge all workplaces to download a COVID-19 Safety Plan, detail how you will action the measures, and register as COVID safe.\u201d<br \/>\nLiquor &amp; Gaming, SafeWork and Fair Trading inspectors are working in coordination with local council environmental inspectors, Food Authority inspectors, NSW Health and NSW Police. This includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>40 NSW Food Authority inspectors;<\/li>\n<li>45 Liquor &amp; Gaming NSW inspectors;<\/li>\n<li>50 Public Health Officers;<\/li>\n<li>68 NSW Fair Trading inspectors;<\/li>\n<li>143 SafeWork NSW inspectors;<\/li>\n<li>483 Local Government Environmental Health Officers; and<\/li>\n<li>NSW Police Officers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Minister for Police and Emergency Services said the NSW Police would work in lock-step with other agencies to prevent further outbreaks of COVID-19 in NSW.<br \/>\n\u201cNSW is at a tipping point \u2013 businesses and individuals alike need to step up to ensure we don\u2019t face a second wave that could put countless lives in jeopardy,\u201d Mr Elliott said.<br \/>\n\u201cPolice have been on the frontline since day one, enforcing ministerial directions to protect the health and wellbeing of everyone in NSW, but they need the cooperation and support of the community.<br \/>\n\u201cIf you deliberately flout a ministerial direction or go about your day in a way that is not COVID-safe, you are putting the entire community at risk and be assured the authorities will be there to hold you accountable.\u201d<br \/>\nCOVID safety breaches can be reported to NSW Police or complaints made online at nsw.gov.au.<br \/>\nInspectors enforcing Public Health Orders can conduct uniformed and undercover inspections and can issue the following penalties:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First offence: $5,000 fine or relevant penalty for breach of the Public Health Order<\/li>\n<li>Second offence: business will be closed for one week<\/li>\n<li>Third offence (repeated and wilful non-compliance): shutdown for up to one month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inspector numbers have been boosted and their powers increased under the\u00a0NSW Public Health Act 2010\u00a0in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19. Venues found to be flouting the NSW Government\u2019s new COVID safety measures face fines, and could even be shut down, as part of a joint operation between Liquor &amp; Gaming NSW, SafeWork &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/07\/27\/inspector-numbers-boosted-ahead-of-covid-safety-crackdown\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;INSPECTOR NUMBERS BOOSTED AHEAD OF COVID SAFETY CRACKDOWN&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}