BUSINESSES in Braeside were handed more than 200 infringement notices after WorkSafe inspectors swooped on premises.

The inspectors visited 140 small businesses during a five-day blitz, uncovering a raft of violations.

Some of these included exposed wires and unsafe electrical sockets, missing grinder guards, and dangerous goods being stored incorrectly.

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Inspectors issued 229 notices demanding employers clean up their act immediately.

WorkSafe manufacturing and logistics director Ross Pilkington said inspectors would return to check up on offenders.

“Although we wrote to the businesses and told them we would be visiting, we still had to pull them up on a high number of health and safety issues,” he said. “In many cases, the safety solutions were straightforward. But the bottom line is that’s more notices than we should need to be issuing.”

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union state secretary Steve Dargabel said the number of breaches detected was unacceptable.

“Clearly, employers are not doing the right thing,” he said.

“We’ve had serious and fatal accidents in the Braeside area and in my experience these incidents are usually utterly preventable.”

Mr Dargabel said the AMWU would conduct its own audit of some Braeside manufacturing plants following the shock result.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think what’s going on in Braeside is unusual or unique - it’s a snapshot of Victoria,” he said.

Twenty-six Victorians died in workplace accidents in 2009-10.

WorkSafe: 1800 136 089 or worksafe.vic.gov.au