Plant

Other duty holders under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (the WHS Act) include:

• Designers, Manufacturers, Importers and Suppliers of Plant
• Officers
• Workers, and
• Other persons at the workplace.

For further information on Work Health and Safety (WHS) duties see our workplace rights and responsibilities webpage

Risk Management

A PCBU must manage the risks to workers and other people’s health and safety which may arise from the use of plant in the workplace.

A PCBU should follow the four-step risk management process:

• Identify hazards—find out whatcould cause harm.
• Assess risks—understand the nature of the harm that could be caused by the hazard.
• Control risks—implement the most effective control measure that is reasonably practicable in the circumstances following the hierarchy of controls.
• Review control measures—to ensure they are working as planned.

For further guidance on the risk management process and the hierarchy of control see the Code of Practice: How to manage WHS risks.

PCBUs should first consider if the risk of plant can be eliminated from the workplace. For example:

• design items of a size, shape and weight so they can be delivered, handled or assembled at the location where they will be used without the need for a crane.
• replacing existing plant with new plant that has the same function but does not have the hazards that were associated with the old plant.

If risks cannot be eliminated think about how they can be minimised, for example:

• installing a convey or system to replace forklifts will eliminate the risks associated with moving plant but will introduce other risks associated with conveyors.
• use concrete barriers to separate mobile plant from workers and others,
• emergency brakes in a lift that are applied automatically when the lift exceeds its maximum speed,
• a tag-out system could be used to ensure the plant is isolated from its power source and is not operated while maintenance or cleaning work is being done, and
• using personal protective equipment (PPE) like high visibility clothing, protective hand and footwear and hard hats.

Control measures should be reviewed regularly to ensure they remain effective.

Licencing 

Certain kinds of plant, such as forklifts, scaffolding, cranes and pressure equipment require a high-risk work licence to operate.

Visit our High Risk Licensing webpage to see the classes of high-risk work licences and the types of plant involved. This page also has information on the competency requirements for each high-risk work licence.

Access Canberra administers the licensing requirements for high-risk work. For further information about High Risk Licensing go to the High Risk Licensing page on the Access Canberra website.

Plant registration 

Certain types of high-risk plant must be registered. Plant requiring registration includes:

• Pressure equipment
• Gas cylinders
• Tower cranes
• Lifts escalators and moving walkways
• Building maintenance units
• Hoists
• Crane suspended work boxes

Visit our Plant Registration webpage for the full list of plant requiring registration.

Access Canberra administers Plant Item Registration. To register an item of plant, go to the Plant Item Registration page on the Access Canberra Website.

Further information

• Work Health and Safety (Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice) Approval 2022
• Plant registration
• High risk licensing 
• Lifts