In 2020 Nexus was engaged by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) to design and classify three new positions. The business rationale for the new positions was threefold: the outcome of a 2017 Legislative Council’s Inquiry into WorkSafe, relating to resourcing deficiencies impacting the administration of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 (the Act); the WA Government’s commitment to adopting the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws; and a government commitment to the appointment of additional specific roles to meet a shortfall in the ratio of those positions compared to other Australian jurisdictions. This commitment was underpinned by Comparative Performance Monitoring Report (20th Edition) statistics from Safe Work Australia and approved by the Expenditure Review Committee and Cabinet. The new positions were intended to support outcomes in increased compliance and proactive activities related to the Act. DMIRS needed new skillsets and knowledge to undertake inspections and investigations anticipated from the introduction of the WHS Bill so these new positions were considered critical. There were no precedents for these new roles within WA so our consultants worked closely with the client to understand their requirements. In lieu of direct comparators, we researched a range of other relevant roles and conducted wide stakeholder engagement, including with the relevant union. Once the job descriptors were finalised our consultants undertook a Bipers assessment on each position descriptor and analysed and compared the most similar positions identified via our research to ensure relativities, compliance and consistency. The new jobs were approved by DMIRS and subsequently filled via DMIRS recruitment processes.
