What is Plant & Machinery and what does the law say?
For the purposes of workplace safety, plant generally covers items such as lifts, cranes, pressure equipment, machinery, hoists, powered mobile plant, amusement structures, lasers, turbines, explosive-powered tools, scaffolds and temporary access equipment.

It is not ships, boats, aircraft, road and rail vehicles, hand-held plant and plant which relies exclusively on manual power for its operation.

Legislation requires you to identify the hazards with each item of plant and machinery in your workplace, assess the level of risk and control that risk. When identifying hazards you will need to take in maintenance, operation and cleaning to ensure you have accounted for all the situations where employees or contractors might be working with it.

There are some specific regulatory requirements in regard to warning devices, guarding and emergency stops, and in some states, isolation procedures, particularly during maintenance. Isolation is an important safety mechanism and should be in your procedures and seen as sound business sense.

Licensing is also a regulatory requirement to operate some plant and machinery.

In addition to typical operational work, regulations state there is a life cycle for plant and machinery and safety requirements at each stage.  They also outline specific requirements for designers, manufacturers, suppliers, installers, and for those commissioning plant and machinery, and even the person who disposes of it. Any applicable people involved at any of these stages have a responsibility to minimise risk.

How do I know if the Plant & Machinery at my workplace is hazardous?
You can download Plant hazard identification and risk assessment forms to use for your situation; however, there is a level of knowledge that is needed when risk assessing plant and it can be difficult working out control measures. In the regulations there is a list of guarding options from the most preferred to the least preferred option.  

Can I get help? 
Yes. Some plant injuries can be horrendous and the regulations complex, and It could be cheaper in the long term to engage an external consultant from our Business Directory to provide you with the right advice so you can get it right first time.  You may also need training and purchase plant accessories such as guarding. 

 Is there any free guidance material I can read on Plant & Machinery?

Click on the link below for useful information?

Australian Capital Territory
www.ors.act.gov.au