Factsheet

Occupational Health & Safety

Plant Safety
Plant and equipment cause a significant number of workplace injuries each year.
Serious injuries can range from amputations due to employees body parts being caught between the moving parts of fixed machinery or to fatalities caused by a mobile plant striking an employee. This QBE Connect Fact Sheet has been compiled to provide you with a basic model for conducting and recording plant risk assessments. It may not apply for every item of plant, and should be modified to suit the individual needs of your organisation. The National Standard for Plant (NOHSC, 1994) states that Plant includes any machinery, equipment (including scaffolding), appliance, implement or tool and any component or fitting thereof.
Who Should Be Involved in Plant Safety? Plant Hazard Identification Make a list of all plant that fits the scope of the definition Inspect the plant and the surrounding work environment Review accident and near miss records Review manufacturers instructions for the relevant plant or machinery Record all identified hazards on the record form

During hazard identification, the risk assessment team should not just concentrate on the hazards inherent to the plant, but should also consider the surrounding plant environment and how employees interact with the plant. The team members should ask what if questions to identify possible situations that may not be part of normal operations, eg. What if a person does not isolate before maintenance? or What if the person actuates the Emergency Stop is access to the rotating shaft still possible?
Risk Controls for Plant Safety

Emergency Stops Emergency stops must be located so that they can be easily reached from all potentially hazardous positions. Emergency stops must not be used for plant isolation. Electrical Residual Current Devices (RCD) or Earth Leakage Circuit Breakers (ELCB) should be used with portable electrical equipment. Electrical equipment should be subject to regular inspections, testing and tagging, as described in AS 3760 in service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment. Plant Designed to Lift or Move This category of plant constitutes mobile (eg. forklift trucks, elevating work platforms, mobile cranes, tractors) and non-mobile (eg. vehicle hoists, gantry cranes) plant used to lift or move people, equipment or materials. They normally constitute a high risk in the workplace and are the cause of many serious injuries and fatalities. Risk control methods often vary from those utilised for fixed machinery.

Machine Guarding Installing machine guards is one of the most effective methods of preventing plant-related injury. Machine guards are available as fixed, interlocking, automatic, distance and trip guards. Fixed guards must only be removable by use of a tool. Poorly designed or inappropriate guarding has often contributed to plant-related injuries. Prior to fabricating and installing guards, ensure that it complies with the appropriate Australian Standard. If using a contractor or consulting engineer, request evidence of the guards compliance in writing. It should be noted that plant purchased with pre-fitted guards is not necessarily safe for use, particularly if produced overseas. Isolation/Lock Out All machinery should be fitted with a means of isolating all energy sources. Lockable isolators are preferred and should be clearly identified. Lock out should be used in conjunction with Danger Do Not Operate tags.

1. Operators of the plant or process to provide knowledge of how the plant actually operates. 2. A person who is skilled in the particular risk assessment method used. 3. People with other appropriate knowledge or expertise deemed to be relevant, such as the supplier/manufacturer, consultant engineers (For example for machine guarding).

Some risk control methods may include:

Roll Over Protection (ROP) for tractors Use of fall arrest protection for employees working in work boxes Fitting of warning beacons and reversing alarms to forklift trucks Erecting fixed or temporary barriers between pedestrian and

an effect upon the safe use of an item of plant, a formal review of the previous risk assessment is conducted to ensure its continuing adequacy. Risk assessments should also be reviewed on a periodic basis to ensure that any small or subtle changes that may not have prompted a previous review have not had a cumulative and significant negative effect on safety. The combined effect of these small changes over a period of time also needs to be considered. Frequency of the periodic review should be based on the overall risk of the plant, eg. for plant with an inherently high risk, the frequency may be 6-12 months, and for lower risk, every two years. Two years should be the maximum duration between reviews. In addition to monitoring and review of your plant safety, remember that certain types of plant require registration with State Authorities. When purchasing an item of plant you should check registration requirements with your local OH&S authority.
Like To Know More?

vehicular thoroughfares
When to Undertake a Plant Risk Assessment?

Here is an outline of the appropriate time to undertake a plant risk assessment at your workplace.
Prior to the purchase of new equipment to ensure that guarding

is suitable
Post-installation to check that it has not generated any additional

hazards
Post-commissioning to ensure that any hazards identified during

commissioning have been controlled

Pre-startup as a final check before plant is put into service

If you require information about the actual Risk Assessment process, refer to QBE Connect Fact Sheet A Guide to Risk Assessment or you can download a copy at www.qbe.com.au/WorkersCompensation
Monitoring and Review

If you would like to know more about a Plant Safety for your workplace you can simply contact your local OH&S Risk Management Consultant or alternatively visit our website at www.qbe.com.au/WorkersCompensation and download additional Fact Sheets related to OH&S.

Change management is often neglected with regard to plant safety. Change to plant design, operating procedures, staff and the surrounding environment can often have a negative effect on safety. It is important that when a change occurs that could potentially have

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Disclaimer: This QBE Connect Fact Sheet is prepared for clients of QBE. It provides general information only. It does not take into account matters specific to your business. You should always seek independent professional advice before acting upon anything in this Fact Sheet. No part of this publication can be reproduced without the written permission of QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited ABN 78 003 191 035. QBE Connect is registered trademark of QBE Insurance Group Limited.

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