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(1) The purpose of this procedure is to ensure the management of risks associated with plant and equipment at Southern Cross University (SCU) are appropriately managed and controlled. (2) The purpose of this procedure is to ensure Southern Cross University’s management, employees, contractors, students, visitors and others are aware of the risks associated with plant and equipment in the workplace, management strategies and to provide advice on appropriate controls. (3) All employees, students and others including both independent contractors and contractors under SCU control are to be made aware of and follow this procedure. (4) This Procedure applies to all SCU Work Units and sites. The procedure aligns with WHS legislation in the relevant jurisdictions SCU operates in. (5) SCU minimises the risks arising from the use of plant and equipment to employees, students, contractors and visitors to workplaces by: (6) Plant is a major cause of work-related death and injury in Australian workplaces. There are significant risks associated with using plant and severe injuries can result from the unsafe use of plant including: (7) Other risks include hearing loss due to noisy plant and musculoskeletal disorders caused by manually handling or operating poorly designed plant. (8) Plant that relies exclusively on manual power for its operation and is designed to be primarily supported by hand, for example a screwdriver, is not covered by this procedure. (9) This procedure does not cover selection and guidance for use of personal protective equipment (PPE). (10) SCU will ensure that consultation occurs with employees, health and safety representatives and managers that may be using or affected by the use of plant or equipment and during all phases of equipment/plant acquisition, purchase, hire, use, maintenance and decommissioning. (11) During the development of safe work method statements (SWMS) and safe work instructions (SWI), and safe operating procedures (SOP), SCU employees will be actively involved in the consultation process regarding hazard identifications, risk assessment, control implementation, and providing feedback and monitoring post implementation. (12) SCU will, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure the provision of information, training, instructions, or supervision necessary to protect all persons from risks arising from work carried out as part of the conduct of SCU business. (13) SCU will ensure that the information, training, or instruction is suitable and adequate to address the nature of the work and the degree of risk, confirming employee understanding and the application of controls. (14) The training content and format will be tailored according to the level of risk involved. For high-risk construction activities, a SWMS will be formulated, all motorised equipment will be accompanied by a SWI, and for other tasks such as using a portable ladder, a SOP will be provided. (15) The person responsible for the purchase, hire or acquisition of plant and equipment in a local area shall: (16) When hiring plant or equipment the person responsible must: (17) Certain items of plant and types of plant design must be registered. Where SCU has management and control of registerable plant a copy of the design registration should be obtained from the supplier to ensure all registrable plant items are registered. Registrable plant is listed in Schedule 5 (Part 1) of the WHS Regulations in NSW and Qld, such as: (18) SCU employees responsible for the installation or erection of plant (including scaffolding and Elevated Work Platform) in a workplace will take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that hazards identified with plant have their associated risks effectively controlled. This is to occur before the plant is commissioned for use. If scaffolding is to be used, ensure a Scaffolding Compliance Tag is provided and used, and those erecting a scaffold hold the appropriate tickets and qualifications. (19) The installer, erector and other people engaged in the installation process will follow designer/manufacturer instructions and/or the advice of a competent person and all statutory requirements/standards and the Code of Practice Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace are to be met. (20) The installer should ensure: (21) Plant shall be positioned so: (22) Plant purchased directly from overseas is assessed for suitability for use in Australia prior to purchase. Attention to the operating voltage and frequency ranges is essential (particularly in the case of three - phase equipment, whether the rated voltages refer to phase to phase or phase to neutral connection - if the frequency is incorrect, some devices within plant may overheat, lose time or otherwise fail). (23) Prior to commissioning, plant is checked, tested, and appropriately inspected to minimise risk to health and safety, in accordance with manufacturer and designer recommendations. Plant is not to be placed into operation until the commissioning and testing process is complete by a qualified person to ensure that the plant is: (24) The Work Unit commissioning the installation of new plant and equipment via the responsible person will ensure that: (25) Where the responsible person initiates modification or alteration to an item of plant or equipment, they must ensure: (26) A risk management process is undertaken on existing items of plant to achieve safety, compliance and best use of SCU resources. All existing plant must be included in the Plant and Equipment Register. (27) Operating procedures are required for each hazardous duty/task involving the use of plant. Safe work procedures are documented by the responsible person of a Work Unit in conjunction with the manufacture’s instruction manual(s). (28) Each responsible person of a Work Unit with plant and equipment will ensure that: (29) The person who operates an item of plant or equipment must have the necessary competencies and/or licences prior to operating an item of plant or equipment. Plant or equipment such as forklifts, scaffolding, pressure equipment and some particular types of cranes are identified in the WHS Regulations as plant or equipment requiring a High-Risk Work Licence. (30) Any person in control of plant must ensure that inspection, maintenance, and if necessary, testing, of plant is carried out by a competent person. Maintenance, inspection and testing must be done in accordance with the manufacture’s recommendations, or if those are not available, in accordance with recommendations made by a competent person. (31) Plant and equipment must be maintained and repaired according to the manufacturer’s manual specifications. If you identify deficiencies in the manual specifications, you should contact the manufacturer. In the absence of a manufacturer’s specifications, plant energy sources should be maintained in accordance with a competent person’s recommendations. (32) A process should be implemented to enable effective communication and consultation with affected employees and others to prevent any risk to health and safety arising from restarting plant/equipment operation when the plant has been shut down due to inspection, maintenance or cleaning. If the plant can’t be isolated, methods to prevent accidental operation should be implemented. (33) All energised plant/equipment is required to be identified in the Plant and Equipment register and refer to HRP07: Electrical Safety Procedure. (34) Service and maintenance records are to be kept within the Plant and Equipment Register. (35) Regular visual inspections should be completed prior to each use and cleaning applicable parts of the plant/equipment should be completed at the frequency prescribed in the manufacturer’s manual. (36) Formal Workplace Inspection Checklists are to be undertaken regularly, refer to HRP14: Workplace Environment and Facilities Management Procedure. (37) Before any plant/equipment is inspected, repaired, maintained or cleaned it must, where practicable, be shut down and its energy sources locked out and tagged as part of an isolation procedure. Damaged or unsafe plant or equipment must be taken out of service and be brought to a state that does not create a risk to health and safety of any person. The following types of tags should be used: (38) Refer to the HRP 22 Lock out, Tag Out Procedure. (39) Plant and equipment not in use must be left in a state that is not a risk to health and safety of any person. Information supplied by the manufacturer should be provided to the person storing the plant. Before plant is used after an extended period of storage, the plant should be recommissioned by carrying out the same level of testing and inspection as when it was first commissioned. (40) The person responsible for management and control of powered mobile plant at SCU workplaces must manage the risks to health and safety associated with: (41) All employees and contractors operating mobile plant must follow safe work procedures for mobile plant including: (42) When plant is to be decommissioned or demolished it must be carried out by a competent person. Some plant may contain hazardous materials. The person responsible is to undertake an inspection of the plant, or a review of any necessary documentation, which may include hazard assessments and manufacturers guidelines. The inspection will take place in the planning stage prior to decommissioning, dismantling and disposal to identify any hazardous materials. If the presence of hazardous materials is suspected contact the WHS team, and your local regulator for further guidance. (43) Where guarding is used as a control measure to plant and access to the plant is not necessary during operation, maintenance or cleaning of plant, the guarding must be a permanently fixed barrier. (44) If access is necessary during operation, maintenance or cleaning, the guarding must be an interlocked physical barrier. If it is not reasonably practicable to apply the above provisions, then guarding must only be able to be removed by the use of a tool. If it is not reasonably practicable to apply a permanent fixed barrier, an interlocked physical barrier or a physical barrier in a fixed position then guarding must include a presence-sensing safeguarding system. (45) The makeup of guarding must comprise of the following: (46) Operator controls must be: (47) SCU must ensure that emergency stop controls of SCU controlled pant are: (48) Warning devices need to be positioned on plant when there is a likelihood of moving plant colliding with other plant, or workers located in the near vicinity of the plant. The following is an example of warning devices: (49) When taking plant out of service for maintenance, repair, installation and cleaning it must be appropriately isolated to manage risk associated with unexpected release of energy. (50) Isolation procedures involve isolating potentially hazardous energy so the plant does not move or start up accidentally. Isolating plant also ensures entry to a restricted area is controlled while the specific task is being carried out. The lock-out process is the most effective isolation procedure. The process is as follows: (51) Refer to HRP07: Electrical Safety Procedure for further information (52) Refer to WHS Responsibility and Accountability Statements. (53) The Vice Chancellor has the following WHS responsibilities: (54) Vice Presidents/Pro/Deputy Vice Chancellors have the following WHS responsibilities: (55) Heads of Work Units have the following WHS responsibilities: (56) Managers and Supervisors have the following WHS responsibilities: (57) All employees and others have the following WHS responsibilities: (58) All relevant documentation will be recorded and kept in accordance with WHS Legislation and other legislative obligations including: (59) This procedure will be reviewed as per nominated review dates or because of other events, such as: HRP04: Plant and Equipment
Section 1 - Purpose and Scope
Section 2 - Definitions
Top of Page
Section 3 - General Principles
Limitations
Consultation
Information, Instruction and Training
Acquisition, purchase or hire of plant
Plant registration
Installation
Positioning plant in the workplace
Commissioning
Modification and alterations to plant and equipment
Existing plant and equipment
Operating procedures
High risk work licences
Inspection of Plant
Maintenance, repair and cleaning of plant and equipment
Isolation/tagout
Storing Plant
Powered Mobile Plant
Decommissioning, dismantling and disposal
Specific control measures
Guarding plant
Operational controls
Emergency Stops
Warning Devices
Isolating energy sources
Section 4 - Roles and Responsibilities
SCU Vice Chancellor
Vice Presidents/Pro/Deputy Vice Chancellors
Head of Work Units
Managers and Supervisors
Employees and others
Top of PageSection 5 - Records of Documentation
Top of PageSection 6 - Revision and approval history
Top of PageSection 7 - References
Top of Page
Section 8 - Related Documents