Table of Contents
Plant and Equipment Policy
Objective: To minimise risks associated with plant, whether owned, leased or hired, are eliminated or reduced as far as practicable, and injuries to workers (including contractors and workers of contractors), and visitors.
Scope: This procedure applies to all workers who, in the course of their duties, acquire (purchase/hire/lease/loan/donate), install, use, operate, store, maintain or dispose of plant and equipment on behalf of, or while working for A2Z Services.
Policy: A2Z Services recognises its responsibility to provide and maintain a safe workplace, including the identification of hazards and control of risks associated with the plant.
A2Z Services will endeavour to prevent injury and eliminate hazards associated with the plant by ensuring:
- No plant is brought onto workplace and commissioned unless there are health and safety risk controls;
- Suitably qualified persons install and commission plant, and monitor risks during these activities;
- Plant is used only for its designed purpose unless an assessment has been carried out by a suitably qualified person for any other proposed use;
- Plant complies with legislative requirements for guarding, operator controls, cleaning, maintenance and testing as required;
- A documented system is developed and implemented to identify hazards, conduct risk assessments (OF0005) where needed, and select suitable controls for installation, commission, use, cleaning/maintenance and decommissioning/dismantling. Select risk controls following a hierarchy of control:
- Elimination;
- Substitution;
- Engineering controls;
- Isolation;
- Administrative controls;
- Safe work procedures;
- Adequate training, information, instruction and supervision as required
- Risk controls will be reviewed when:
- Control is no longer effective;
- Before any change likely to introduce new or different hazards that current controls will not adequately addressed;
- Further hazards and risks have been identified;
- Results of consultation indicate a review is needed;
- Where requested by workers or HSR;
- As per manufacturer’s instructions.
Plant and Equipment Procedure
This procedure addresses the management of safety issues involved with the operation, inspection, maintenance, checking, repair, servicing, testing and monitoring of plant and equipment.
Responsibilities:
The PCBU is responsible for ensuring there is a safe system in place for all aspects of the management of plant and equipment, which meets both the purpose of this procedure and the requirements of current WHS Legislation.
Managers/Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that the Plant and Equipment Procedure is implemented within their department, that all workers are familiar and follow the procedure.
Workers who are required to use, operate and/or maintain plant and equipment must ensure they follow the steps listed. Workers will be provided with information and training to enable them to comply with the procedure.
Procedure:
- Acquisition:
- Follow the A2Z Services Purchasing Procedure for the purchase of all plant and equipment;
- Licensing and Certification:
- Determine the Certification requirements of plant and equipment, and licensing requirements for operators, as required by the relevant Authorities (must be done prior first use at A2Z Services);
- Worker Training and Qualification – Plant is requiring Certification:
- Workers who will be responsible for the management, operation, use, maintenance and disposal of plant and equipment that involves Certification hold current operator’s licenses and are trained and competent as required by the relevant Authorities;
- Worker Training – Equipment not requiring Certification/Licencing:
- Workers must be trained to safely operate the equipment by a person who is suitably competent/experienced in its operation;
- If an experienced person is not available, the worker’s manager must ensure the manufacturer’s operating instructions are available, read and understood by the worker before operation commences;
- A Safe Operating Procedure (OM00037) shall be explained and demonstrated during training, including any risk assessment (OF0005) for the equipment;
- The workers must be able to demonstrate the safe operation of the equipment under supervision before being allowed to operate the equipment unsupervised;
- Maintenance and Pre-start checks:
- Before any plant or equipment is cleaned, serviced, repaired or modified appropriate control measures, including engineering controls where applicable, must be implemented to prevent accidental or deliberate operation. E.g., isolation from electricity, removal of keys, lock out and tag etc. Pre-operational checks must be conducted on all plant before use. These may be daily, weekly, monthly, six monthly and annual checks as recommended by the manufacturer;
- All plant and equipment will be stored, cleaned, serviced, repaired and maintained as per the manufacturer’s recommendations;
- Return of plant or equipment to service:
- A qualified person is to verify and approve that the plant or equipment is safe for use, before it being used again after having been taken out of service;
- If plant or equipment has been locked out or tagged, the qualified person will re-commission the plant or equipment and advise workers that it is back in service and is safe to use;
- Testing and Tagging:
- Plant will be inspected/checked by an Authorised Person and will have inspection tags/labels placed on them as required;
- Equipment will undergo regular checks to ensure it is fully functional and safe to use;
- Plant or equipment that fails to test, or is found to be unsafe, damaged, will be removed from service and will be locked out/tagged as appropriate;
- Keep records of all testing and tagging of plant and equipment;
- Operation:
- All plant and equipment must be used or operated as per the manufacturer’s recommendations;
- Workers will follow the guidance provided in any SWMSs (OM00036), Safe Work Procedures (OM00037) , risk assessments (OF0005) and as outlined by on-the-job training and supervision as required when using or operating plant and equipment;
- Under no circumstances is faulty or damaged plant or equipment to be used;
- Disposal:
- Before disposal, plant and equipment may need to be rendered inoperable, or de-commissioned to leave it safe for disposal. De-commissioning as required;
- Dispose of plant and equipment in an environmentally suitable manner and per Local Authority requirement.
Forms and Registers
| Document Number | Document Name |
| OF0005 | Risk Assessment Form |
| OR0027 | Employee Training and Competency and Induction Register |
| OF0031 | Plant Hazard Checklist (Non-Mobile Plant) |
| OR0017 | Risk Register |
| OM00039 | Plant and Equipment Lock Out/Tag Out Policy |
| OM00032 | Electrical Safety Policy |
| OM00037 | Safe Operating Procedure |
| OM00036 | Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) Policy |
Amendment Record
Issue#: 1 Issue Date: 13/7/2022
| Rev# | Date | Section# | Para.# | Description of Change | Prepared By | Approved By |
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 3 |
Click here to download OM00038 – Plant and Equipment Policy in PDF Format
Disclaimer: This documentcontains material to assist in meeting environmental management, Work Health and Safety and Quality obligations under the International Standard ISO AS/NZS ISO 9001:2016,14001:2016 and other legislative bodies. This document contains material sourced from Safe Work Australia. Any such material remains subject to copyright © Commonwealth of Australia. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/copyright. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information at the time of publication, it is provided as guidance only and does not provide legal advice on meeting your obligations. This document and its contents are © A2Z services 2018 and or the originating source authors and no permission is given for its duplication or copying, in part or in its entirety, for use outside its original purposes as stated within the company.