Protections for workers in the gig economy should be subject to a fresh state investigation after a review prompted an overhaul of the NSW workplace health and safety watchdog.
The agency, SafeWork NSW, will become a standalone regulator with a similar structure to the Environmental Protection Authority following a review released on Thursday.
Former Supreme Court judge Robert McDougall made the recommendation, calling for a board including employer and employee representatives and advocacy groups to oversee the key body.
It was one of three agencies created following the abolition of WorkCover in 2015, which led to functions being spread across multiple departments.
Mr McDougall previously conducted reviews into the other two bodies, Insurance and Care NSW, or icare, and the State Insurance Regulatory Authority, as well as calling for the SafeWork probe.
He made 46 recommendations for making SafeWork a "best practice" regulator, focusing on improvements to initial assessments of workplace safety incidents and simplifying later investigations.
Mr McDougall noted the report did not cover the "gig economy" as it fell outside the terms of reference.
"It is, nonetheless, an increasingly familiar and significant part of our society and economy, and one that in my view demands its own investigation," he said.
The Labor government endorsed the review's recommendations and said it had already begun some of the recommended reforms since coming to power in March 2023.
Staff previously spread across the Department of Customer Service were being brought together and a review had begun of SafeWork NSW's ability to triage incidents, the government said.
Inspectors would get more support, while family members of people who were killed or seriously injured at work would get more information about investigations, Work Health and Safety Minister Sophie Cotsis said.
"Worker safety is not red tape, it is not a tick-a-box function, it is not a cost of doing business," she said.
"It is a fundamental right for every worker to go to their job and come home safely."
The NSW government would not allow the regulator to become badly compromised again, Ms Cotsis said.
SafeWork NSW acting deputy secretary Trent Curtin said the agency was entering a new era and the recommendations would help it become a strong and responsive health and safety regulator.
