Safe Design, Manufacture, Import and Supply of Plant Draft Code of Practice
Table of Contents FOREWORD... 4 SCOPE AND APPLICATION... 4 1 INTRODUCTION... 5 1.1 The meaning of key terms... 5 1.2 Who has health and safety duties in relation to plant?... 6 1.3 What is required to manage health and safety risks associated with plant? 6 2 HOW TO MANAGE PLANT RISKS... 9 2.1 Identifying hazards... 9 2.2 Assessing the risks... 10 2.3 Controlling the risks... 10 2.4 Reviewing risk control measures... 11 2.5 Information sources... 11 3 SAFE DESIGN OF PLANT... 13 3.1 What is safe design?... 13 3.2 The role of designers... 13 3.3 Integrating safe design and risk management... 14 3.4 Pre-design and concept development phase... 14 3.5 Design phase... 16 3.6 Testing and examination of plant... 17 3.7 Providing information... 17 3.8 Registering plant design... 19 4 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS... 21 4.1 Physical characteristics of users... 21 4.2 Design to facilitate safe use... 21 4.3 Reasonably foreseeable misuse... 22 4.4 Minimising human error... 22 4.5 Environmental conditions... 22 4.6 Erection and installation... 22 4.7 Maintenance... 23 4.8 Guarding... 23 4.9 Operator control devices... 25 4.10 Emergency stops... 26 4.11 Failure of the control circuit... 27 4.12 Warning devices... 27 5 MANUFACTURE OF PLANT... 28 5.1 The role of manufacturers... 28 5.2 Plant construction... 28 5.3 Testing and examination of plant... 29 5.4 Information about the safe use of plant... 30 5.5 Registration of plant design... 30 5.6 Item registration... 30 6 IMPORT AND SUPPLY OF PLANT... 31 6.1 Examination and testing of plant... 31 6.2 Information about the safe use of plant... 31 6.3 Compatibility of plant... 31 6.4 Imported plant... 32 PAGE 2 OF 48
6.5 Design registration... 32 6.6 Hire of plant... 32 6.7 Second-hand plant... 33 7 SPECIFIC RISK CONTROLS... 35 7.1 Confined spaces... 35 7.2 Manual tasks... 35 7.3 Noise... 36 7.4 Energy sources... 36 7.5 Static electricity... 37 7.6 Lightning... 37 7.7 Fire and explosion... 37 7.8 Plant capable of entangling an operator... 37 7.9 Vibration... 38 7.10 Exposure to radiation... 38 7.11 Risk of being trapped... 39 7.12 Hazardous chemicals... 39 7.13 Combined plant... 40 7.14 Stability... 40 7.15 Mechanical or structural failure during operation... 40 7.16 Software... 41 7.17 Lighting... 41 APPENDIX A EXAMPLES OF TECHNICAL STANDARDS... 42 APPENDIX B REGISTRABLE PLANT... 46 APPENDIX C DESIGN SOURCES OF HUMAN ERROR... 48 PAGE 3 OF 48
FOREWORD This Code of Practice on the safe design, manufacture, import and supply of plant is an approved code of practice under section 274 of the Work Health and Safety Act (the WHS Act). An approved code of practice is a practical guide to achieving the standards of health, safety and welfare required under the WHS Act and the Work Health and Safety Regulations (the WHS Regulations). A code of practice applies to anyone who has a duty of care in the circumstances described in the code. In most cases, following an approved code of practice would achieve compliance with the health and safety duties in the WHS Act, in relation to the subject matter of the code. Like regulations, codes of practice deal with particular issues and do not cover all hazards or risks which may arise. The health and safety duties require duty holders to consider all risks associated with work, not only those for which regulations and codes of practice exist. Codes of practice are admissible in court proceedings under the WHS Act and Regulations. Courts may regard a code of practice as evidence of what is known about a hazard, risk or control and may rely on the code in determining what is reasonably practicable in the circumstances to which the code relates. Compliance with the WHS Act and Regulations may be achieved by following another method, such as a technical or an industry standard, if it provides an equivalent or higher standard of work health and safety than the code. An inspector may refer to an approved code of practice when issuing an improvement or prohibition notice. This Code of Practice has been developed by Safe Work Australia as a model code of practice under the Council of Australian Governments Inter-Governmental Agreement for Regulatory and Operational Reform in Occupational Health and Safety for adoption by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments. A draft of this Code of Practice was released for public consultation on 2 April 2012 and was endorsed by the Select Council for Workplace Relations on [to be completed]. SCOPE AND APPLICATION This Code provides practical guidance for persons conducting a business or undertaking who design (including redesign or modification of a design), manufacture, import or supply plant that is used, or could reasonably be expected to be used, at a workplace on how to meet the requirements under the WHS Act and Regulations. The Code of Practice: Managing Risks of Plant on the Workplace provides guidance on how to manage health and safety risks of plant once it is in the workplace, from installation, commissioning and use through to decommissioning and dismantling. How to use this code of practice In providing guidance, the word should is used in this Code to indicate a recommended course of action, while may is used to indicate an optional course of action. This Code also includes various references to provisions of the WHS Act and Regulations which set out the legal requirements. These references are not exhaustive. The words must, requires or mandatory indicate that a legal requirement exists and must be complied with. PAGE 4 OF 48
1 INTRODUCTION Plant is a major cause of workplace death and injury in Australian workplaces. There are significant risks associated with using plant and severe injuries can result, including: limbs amputated by unguarded moving parts of machines being crushed by mobile plant sustaining fractures from falls while accessing, operating or maintaining plant electric shock from plant that is not adequately protected or isolated burns or scalds due to contact with hot surfaces, or exposure to flames or hot fluids. Other risks include hearing loss due to noisy plant and musculoskeletal disorders caused by manually handling or operating plant that is poorly designed. Designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers have an important role in ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the plant they design, manufacture, import or supply is safe before it is introduced and used in the workplace. 1.1 The meaning of key terms Plant includes any machinery, equipment, appliance, container, implement and tool, and includes any component or anything fitted or connected to any of those things. Plant includes items as diverse as lifts, cranes, computers, machinery, conveyors, forklifts, vehicles, power tools and amusement devices. Plant that relies exclusively on manual power for its operation and is designed to be primarily supported by hand, for example a screw driver, is not covered by the WHS Regulations. The general duty of care under the WHS Act applies to this type of plant. Certain kinds of plant, such as forklifts, cranes and some pressure equipment, require a licence from the WHS regulator to operate and some high-risk plant must also be registered with the WHS regulator. Competent person means a person who has acquired through training, qualification or experience the knowledge and skills to carry out the task. A competent person has a more specific meaning in the following circumstances: For design verification, the person must have the skills, qualifications, competence and experience to design the plant or verify the design. For inspection of plant for registration purposes the person must have: o educational or vocational qualifications in an engineering discipline relevant to the plant being inspected, or o knowledge of the technical standards relevant to the plant being inspected. For inspection of mobile cranes, tower cranes and amusement devices the person must: o have the skills, qualifications, competence and experience to inspect the plant, and be registered under a law that provides for the registration of professional engineers (in jurisdictions where such a law exists), or o be determined by the WHS regulator to be a competent person. Fail safe means a state or condition where, if any component or function of the plant fails, a system exists to prevent any increase in the risks. For example, if the primary hoist brake fails on a crane lifting a person in a workbox, the secondary hoist brake will prevent uncontrolled dropping of the workbox. However, once the secondary brake is engaged, a PAGE 5 OF 48
lower level of safety has been reached. The situation must be made safe and the fault rectified so that the fail safe capability is re-established. The reliability or safety integrity of the fail safe system should be commensurate with the determined level of risk (for example, Category 1 to Category 4 applied in AS 4024: Safety of Machinery). 1.2 Who has health and safety duties in relation to plant? A person conducting a business or undertaking has the primary duty under the WHS Act to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that workers and other persons are not exposed to health and safety risks arising from the business or undertaking. This duty includes ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable: the provision and maintenance of safe plant, and the safe use, handling, storage and transport of plant. Persons who conduct a business or undertaking involving the management or control of fixtures, fittings or plant at a workplace must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the fixtures, fittings and plant are without risks to the health and safety of any person. Designers, manufacturers, suppliers, importers and installers of plant must also ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the plant they design, manufacture, import, supply or install is without risks to health and safety. The WHS Regulations include more specific duties for designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of plant in relation to the risks of confined spaces, noise and musculoskeletal disorders. As there are generally a number of people involved with plant during its lifecycle (i.e. from its design through to its use and eventual disposal), a person can have more than one duty and more than one person can have the same duty at the same time. In some circumstances, a manufacturer, importer or supplier of plant will also have the duties of a designer. Officers, for example, company directors, have a duty to exercise due diligence to ensure that the business or undertaking complies with the WHS Act and Regulations. This includes taking reasonable steps to ensure that the business or undertaking has and uses appropriate resources and processes to eliminate or minimise risks that arise from plant used in the workplace. Workers have a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and must not adversely affect the health and safety of other persons. Workers must comply with any reasonable instruction and cooperate with any reasonable policy or procedure relating to health and safety at the workplace. 1.3 What is required to manage health and safety risks associated with plant? R. 34-38: In order to manage risk under the WHS Regulations, a duty holder must: identify reasonably foreseeable hazards that could give rise to the risk eliminate the risk so far as is reasonably practicable if it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate the risk, minimise the risk so far as is reasonably practicable by implementing control measures in accordance with the hierarchy of control maintain the implemented control measure so that it remains effective PAGE 6 OF 48
review, and if necessary revise, risk control measures so as to maintain, so far as is reasonably practicable, a work environment that is without risks to health and safety. This Code provides guidance on how to manage the risks associated with plant by following a systematic process that involves: identifying hazards if necessary, assessing the risks associated with these hazards, implementing and maintaining risk control measures reviewing risk control measures. Designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of plant should use this process as a way of making plant as safe as possible before it is used in the workplace. General guidance on the risk management process is available in the Code of Practice: How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks. Providing and obtaining information Designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers all have obligations to provide information about the plant to enable other duty holders to fulfil the responsibilities they have in managing the risks associated with it. This information must be given to each person to whom the plant (or its design) is provided. Information must be passed on from the designer through to the manufacturer and supplier to the end user. This information includes: the purpose for which plant was designed or manufactured the results of any calculations, analysis, testing or examination, and any conditions necessary for the safe use of the plant. Consulting workers A person conducting a business or undertaking must consult, so far as is reasonably practicable, with workers who carry out work for the business or undertaking who are (or are likely to be) directly affected by a work health and safety matter. If the workers are represented by a health and safety representative, the consultation must involve that representative. Consultation with workers and their health and safety representatives is required at each step of the risk management process. If you are designing or modifying plant for use in your own workplace, you must consult your workers so far as is reasonably practicable, as the plant and the way it is used may affect their health and safety. Your workers may have practical suggestions or potential solutions that can be included at the design stage. Consulting, cooperating and coordinating activities with other duty holders A person conducting a business or undertaking must consult, cooperate and coordinate activities with all other persons who have a work health or safety duty in relation to the same matter, so far as is reasonably practicable. Often, many different businesses or undertakings are involved in the design, manufacture, import and supply of an item of plant and their decisions may positively or negatively affect the safety of the product. In these situations, each duty holder will have health and safety responsibilities related to the safety of the plant. Where it is reasonably practicable to do so, the duty holders involved must consult each other on the risks associated with the plant and work together in a cooperative and coordinated way to control the risks. PAGE 7 OF 48
Further guidance on consultation is available in the Code of Practice: Work Health and Safety Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination. PAGE 8 OF 48
2 HOW TO MANAGE PLANT RISKS 2.1 Identifying hazards Identifying hazards involves finding all of the things and situations that could potentially cause harm to people. Hazards associated with plant generally arise from: The plant itself: For example, hazards associated with a forklift would include hazards relating to its mobility, it s electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power sources, its moving parts, its load-carrying capacity and operator protection. How and where the plant is used: The forklift, for example, may have hazards arising from the kind of loads it is used to lift, the size of the area in which it is used and the slope or evenness of the ground. Things to consider when looking for hazards Possible kinds of hazard Could the plant cause injury due entanglement, crushing, trapping, cutting, stabbing, puncturing, shearing, abrasion, tearing or stretching? Could the plant create hazardous conditions due to pressurised content, electricity, noise, radiation, friction, vibration, fire, explosion, temperature, moisture, vapour, gases, dust, ice, hot or cold parts? Could the plant cause injury or ill health due to poor ergonomic design? Suitability How suitable would the plant be for its intended purpose? What could happen if it was used for a purpose other than the intended purpose? How suitable are the materials used to make the plant? How suitable are any accessories to the plant? In what condition are they? How stable is the plant? Might it roll over? If the plant is intended to lift and move people, equipment or materials, how capable is it of doing this? Will there be an effective back-up system to support the load? Access What sort of access will be required during installation, operation, maintenance and in an emergency? Will workers be able to have safe access without injury from the plant itself or the risk of slips, trips and falls (walkway, gantry, elevated work platform, fixed ladders)? Location How would the plant affect the safety of the area where it will be located (e.g. its impact on design and layout of the workplace)? How would the location affect the safety of the plant (e.g. environmental conditions, terrain and work area)? Are there likely to be other people or other plant in the vicinity? What effect would this have? Systems of work What systems of work would be associated with the plant? Could they create any hazards? Would the plant s safety depend on the competency of its operators? What kind of training, information, instruction and supervision is needed for workers and other persons who may need to operate or be near the plant? PAGE 9 OF 48
Abnormal situations What abnormal situations, misuse or fluctuation in operating conditions can you foresee? What effects would failure of the plant have? Would it result in loss of contents, loss of load, unintended ejection of work pieces, explosion, fragmentation, collapse of parts? Would it be possible for the plant to move or be operated inadvertently? 2.2 Assessing the risks A risk assessment involves considering what could happen if someone is exposed to a hazard and the likelihood of it happening. A risk assessment can be undertaken with varying degrees of detail, depending on the complexity of the plant and the type of information available, and may involve specific risk analysis tools and techniques. A risk assessment is unnecessary if you already know the risk and how to control it. To assess the risk associated with plant hazards you have identified, you should consider the following: how often and for how long people would be exposed to each of the potentially hazardous situations you have identified (this affects likelihood as the longer and the more frequent the exposure to a potential hazard, the more likely it is to cause harm) how many people would be exposed to the potential hazard at the same time (this affects the consequence) both technical and human factors, including a person s ability to change behaviour to compensate for design changes. 2.3 Controlling the risks The ways of controlling risks are ranked from the highest level of protection and reliability to the lowest. This ranking is known as the hierarchy of risk control. The WHS Regulations require duty holders to work through this hierarchy to choose the control that most effectively eliminates, or where that is not reasonably practicable, minimises the risk in the circumstances. Specific controls are required under the WHS Regulations for certain types of plant, such as: powered mobile plant plant that lifts or suspends loads industrial robots lasers pressure equipment scaffolds. Elimination The most effective control measure is to remove the hazard or hazardous work practice associated with the plant. Many hazards can be addressed at the design, manufacture, supply and installation stages. For example, designing machinery to produce low noise levels is more effective than having to provide workers with personal hearing protection. This also avoids costly modifications to plant after it is purchased. If elimination is not reasonably practicable, you must minimise the risk by: Substitution substitute the plant (or hazardous parts of it) with plant that is safer. For example, a manufacturer may be able to substitute a component with one that has higher heat tolerance. PAGE 10 OF 48
Isolation separate the hazardous plant from people, either by distance or physical barrier. For example plant could be specified for use in an isolated or controlled environment. Engineering controls include modifications to tools or equipment, for example an importer could install guards to prevent contact with moving parts of machinery or retrofit a roll over protective structure on a tractor. If risk remains, it must be minimised by implementing administrative controls, so far as is reasonably practicable, for example using a lock-out system of work to ensure that plant can be physically isolated from its power source while maintenance or cleaning work is being done. Providing training and supervision, using warning signs or arranging work to minimise the time spent near noisy machinery are all examples of administrative controls. Any remaining risk must be minimised with suitable personal protective equipment (PPE), such as providing workers with breathing protection, hard hats, gloves, aprons and protective eyewear. Administrative control measures and PPE rely on human behaviour and supervision, and used on their own, tend to be least effective in minimising risks. Combinations of control measures In many cases, a combination of control measures will provide the best solution. For example, protecting workers from flying debris when using a concrete cutting saw may involve guarding the blade (engineering), isolating the work area by using barriers (isolation) and signs (administrative), and providing PPE such as a face shield. 2.4 Reviewing risk control measures The control measures that are implemented must be reviewed, and if necessary, revised to make sure they work as planned and that no new hazards have been introduced by the control measures. A person conducting a business or undertaking must review and as necessary revise control measures: when the control measure is not effective in controlling the risk before a change at the workplace that is likely to give rise to a new or different health and safety risk that the control measure may not effectively control if a new hazard or risk is identified if the results of consultation indicate that a review is necessary if a health and safety representative requests a review. Designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of plant may use quality assurance processes to check that the plant effectively minimises health and safety risks. Obtain feedback from users of the plant to determine whether any improvements can be made to make it safer. 2.5 Information sources There are a range of sources that may assist in managing risks associated with the plant and the systems of work used in connection with the plant. Researching information WHS legislation, codes of practice and technical standards covering design, manufacture, testing and use of plant Injury, faults, incident and accident reports, and plant failure data kept by manufacturers and users of the same or similar types of plant PAGE 11 OF 48
Statistics, hazard alerts or other reports from relevant statutory authorities, unions and employer associations, specialists, professional bodies representing designers, manufacturers, or engineers Information and documentation supplied by designers or manufacturers on safety and health issues, such as test reports on previous designs or similar plant Relevant reports or articles from occupational health and safety journals, technical references or data bases. Inspection and testing Inspect plant that has failed and been returned by users Develop prototypes, and inspect and test their design and manufacture Conduct walk-through surveys of the workplace where the plant will be used before beginning the design process and while the plant is being installed or erected (the latter to look for hazards which may be introduced during installation). Consultation Where possible, talk to other designers, manufacturers, installers and users. People actually working with the same or similar plant are often well aware of what can go wrong and why, and how the work environment can change. It also enables any issues to be discussed, for example the practicality of substituting materials in the manufacturing process. PAGE 12 OF 48
3 SAFE DESIGN OF PLANT 3.1 What is safe design? Safe design means the integration of control measures early in the design process to eliminate or, if this is not reasonable practicable, minimise risks to health and safety throughout the life of the plant being designed. The safe design of any type of plant will always be part of a wider set of design objectives, including practicability, aesthetics, cost and functionality. These sometimes competing objectives need to be balanced in a manner that does not compromise the health and safety of those potentially affected by the plant over its life. Safe design begins at the concept development phase when choices are made about design, materials used and methods of manufacture. Safer plant will be created when hazards and risks that could impact on downstream users over the lifecycle are eliminated or minimised during design and before manufacture. In these early phases there is greater scope to design-out hazards or incorporate risk control measures that are compatible with the original design concept and functional requirements of the product. 3.2 The role of designers A designer is a person conducting a business or undertaking whose profession, trade or business involves them in: preparing sketches, plans or drawings for plant that is to be used or could reasonably be expected to be used at a workplace, including variations to a plan or changes to the plant making decisions for incorporation into a design that may affect the health or safety of persons who manufacture, use or carry out other activities in relation to the plant. Designers include design professionals such as engineers, industrial designers and designers of plant systems such as software and electrical systems. A person will also have the duties of a designer if they alter the design during manufacture, or alter existing plant, so that new measures for controlling risk are required. For example, if the maximum working radius of a mobile crane is increased by fitting a longer boom, a new load chart needs to be prepared to control the increased risk of the crane overturning. The person designing the boom extension should contact the original designer to ensure the new boom extension does not compromise the existing design criteria or safety factors. Consider the lifecycle Safe design applies to every stage in the lifecycle, from conception through to disposal. The WHS Act requires the designer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the plant is designed to be without risks to the health and safety of persons who: use the plant for a purpose for which it was designed store the plant at a workplace carry out any reasonably foreseeable activity at a workplace in relation the manufacture, assembly, use, storage, decommissioning, dismantling or disposal of the plant, or are at or in the vicinity of a workplace and are exposed to the plant or whose health and safety may be affected by an activity related to the plant. This means thinking about potential hazards and design solutions as the plant is manufactured, transported, installed, commissioned, operated, maintained, repaired, de-commissioned, dismantled and disposed of or recycled PAGE 13 OF 48
Knowledge and capability In addition to core design capabilities, the following skills and knowledge should be demonstrated or acquired by a designer: knowledge of work health and safety legislation, codes of practice and other regulatory requirements understanding the intended use of the plant throughout its lifecycle knowledge of hazard identification, risk assessment and control methods knowledge of technical design standards, and the ability to source and apply relevant data on human dimensions, capacities and behaviours. Many design projects are too large and complex to be fully understood by one person. Various persons with specific skills and expertise may need to be included in the design team or consulted during the design process to fill any knowledge gaps, for example ergonomists, engineers and occupational hygienists. 3.3 Integrating safe design and risk management The design brief should include a requirement to apply a risk management process in the design. The safe design of plant is usually an iterative process. After the initial control measures are incorporated into the design, the design is reviewed to determine whether there are remaining risks and whether redesign can eliminate or minimise these risks (see Figure 1). 3.4 Pre-design and concept development phase This stage of the process involves: Establishing the design context in terms of the purpose of the plant, its functions and limitations Identifying the roles and responsibilities of various parties in relation to the project, and establishing collaborative relationships with clients, manufacturers and users of the plant Conducting research and consultation to assist in identifying hazards, assessing and controlling risks (see section 2.5) Conducting hazard identification PAGE 14 OF 48
Establish the design context Conduct research and consultation Pre-design phase Obtain information including: Purpose of the plant, its functions and limitations Data from similar types of plant, test reports WHS legislation, codes of practice, technical standards. Identify hazards associated with the plant Develop prototype or initial design Conceptual and schematic design phase Hazard identification (technical and human factors): Hazardous conditions High consequence hazards Systems of work Plant access and location Abnormal situations. Determine how hazards will be eliminated or minimised through either: (a) implementing solutions from recognised technical Standards; or (b) conducting a risk management process. Design development phase (a) Implement solutions from recognised Standards. Identify hazards that can be adequately addressed by applying solutions/guidance from existing standards if appropriate (b) Conduct a risk assessment process for hazards which have no suitable solutions in recognised Standards or there is poor safety experience with this type of hazard. Design risk controls Test, trial or evaluate the design Determine information needs for safety during the lifecycle Redesign to reduce risks within the designers control Final design Yes Have risks been eliminated or minimised so far as is reasonably practicable? NO Figure 1: A systematic approach to integrating design and risk management PAGE 15 OF 48
Plant functions and limitations Identify the functions of the plant and its limitations, for example: the specifications (what is produced, materials to be used) expected place of use (environment, supporting surface) planned service life intended functions and operating modes expected malfunctions and faults the people interacting with the plant the products related to the plant the correct use of the plant, as well as reasonably foreseeable misuse. Plant limitations Use limits Space limits Time limits Environmental limits Interface limits Hazard identification Examples Intended use, production rates, cycle times, working load limits Range of movement, access for maintenance Wear and tear of materials, use of fluids Temperature, humidity, noise, location Other plant, energy sources Hazard identification should take place as early as possible in the concept development and design stages. It involves identifying the various activities that the plant would be subjected to throughout its life and the reasonably foreseeable hazards associated with each activity. Hazards may include but are not limited to the following.. Mechanical (crushing, cutting, trapping, shearing) Electrical Thermal Noise Vibration Radiation Hazardous chemicals Slipping, tripping and falling Manual handling Confined spaces Environmental conditions Hazards resulting from a combination of the above 3.5 Design phase The design phase may involve: developing a prototype or initial design testing, trialling or evaluating the prototype or design..in all phases of the plant lifecycle manufacture storage packing and transportation unloading and unpacking assembly installation commissioning use cleaning adjustment inspection planned and unplanned maintenance repair decommissioning dismantling disposal recycling. PAGE 16 OF 48
redesigning to control any remaining risks so far as is reasonably practicable finalising the design and prepare risk control plans for the lifecycle of the product. Some hazards may be adequately addressed by applying existing solutions in published technical standards. Alternatively, a risk management process should be used to develop and select the most effective control measure. Technical standards Plant should be designed by a competent person (for example, a qualified engineer) in accordance with acceptable engineering principles and relevant technical standards. Engineering principles include, for example, mathematical or scientific procedures outlined in an engineering reference or standard. A list of some relevant published technical standards is included at Appendix A. The list is not exhaustive and designers may consider using other technical standards when designing plant. 3.6 Testing and examination of plant Designers must carry out, or arrange the carrying out of, any calculations, analysis, testing or examination that may be necessary to ensure, so far is reasonably practicable, that the plant is designed to be without risks to health and safety. Analysis, testing or examination can be carried out when developing a prototype and during the manufacturing stage. Designers should require that consideration should be given to: simulation of the normal range of operational capabilities testing of design features incorporated to ensure fail-safe operation measurement of imposed stresses on critical components to ensure maximum design stresses are not exceeded testing of critical safety features such as overspeed and over-pressure devices under both normal and adverse operational conditions development of overload testing procedures to ensure plant safety during foreseeable misuse conditions. Records of tests and examinations should be maintained and provided to the manufacturer of the plant. 3.7 Providing information Designers must give adequate information to each person who is provided with the design in order to give effect to it concerning: the purpose for which the plant was designed the results of any calculations, testing, analysis or examination any conditions necessary to ensure that the plant is without risks when used for a purpose for which it was designed or when carrying out any activity related to the plant. The designer must also, so far as is reasonably practicable, provide this information to any person who carries out activities in relation to the plant. For example, if plant is to be located a specific distance from other plant, written instructions must be provided for the manufacturer, supplier, installer, owner and end user. If the manufacturer advises the designer that there are safety issues with the design, the designer must revise the information to take account of these concerns, or tell the manufacturer in writing the reasons why such revision is not necessary. PAGE 17 OF 48
Information provided to the manufacturer (or supplier if you are also manufacturing the plant) should include details of any risks you have not been able to eliminate. Information should be provided in a manner that can be clearly understood by persons who may use the plant and may be a combination of written text or visual information such as signs, symbols or diagrams. Where visual information is provided, it should conform to the relevant standard. Type of information to provide Under the WHS Regulations, designers must provide specific information to the manufacturer to enable the plant to be manufactured in accordance with the design specifications. If relevant, information must be provided on: the installation, commissioning, use, handling, storage, decommissioning and dismantling of the plant hazards associated with use of the plant testing or inspections required for the plant or structure systems of work and competency of operators required for the safe use emergency procedures if there is a malfunction. Examples of information that may be needed include: Manufacture of plant For example: any specific conditions relating to the method of manufacture instruction to the manufacturer for fitting or refitting plant parts and their location on the larger components of the plant or their housings where: o the direction of movement should be known in order to avoid a risk o associated errors which could be made in installation o instruction where hot or cold parts or material may create a hazard. In the case of registrable plant design, the information provided by the designer to the manufacturer should include the plant design registration number in order to provide evidence that the plant design has been registered in accordance with the WHS Regulations. Transport, handling and storage of plant For example: dimensions and weight indications for handling, for example, application points for lifting equipment conditions for storage. Installation and commissioning For example: exposure of dangerous parts prior to the fixing of guarding lifting procedures stability during installation the proposed method for installation and commissioning, including tests that should be carried out the use of special tools, jigs and appliances necessary to minimise any risk of injury during installation the interaction of plant with other plant environmental factors affecting installation and commissioning. PAGE 18 OF 48
Using, inspecting and testing plant For example: the comprehensive range of uses for which the plant is intended, including prohibited usages requirements for maintenance and repair, such as nature and frequency of maintenance, disposal of hazardous by-product and consumables emergency situations, for example, types of fire fighting equipment exposure to hazardous substances effects of environmental conditions on the use of the plant the results or documentation of tests and examinations carried out on the plant and design de-commissioning, dismantling and disposal of plant any known residual risks, that is, those that cannot be eliminated or sufficiently reduced by design and against which guarding is not totally effective the control measures, for example, personal protective equipment, that should be used to further reduce the risks associated with plant guidance, if required, on administrative controls requirements for special tools needed to use or maintain plant. Details of critical components 1 should be documented so that the specifications, applicable standards to which they comply and source of evidence that demonstrates compliance (i.e. test report, third party certificates) is readily available. In maintenance and repair, critical components should only be replaced by equivalents. 3.8 Registering plant design Schedule 5 of the WHS Regulations requires certain plant designs and items of plant to be registered (registrable plant). Schedule 5 is reproduced in Appendix B. Plant design registration involves registering a design from which any number of individual items can be manufactured to that same design. How to register a plant design In order to register a plant design, the design must be verified by a design verifier who must provide a statement that the design has been produced in accordance with published technical standards or engineering principles. Any drawings or other documents provided with the application must be capable of being kept in an electronic form. Design verification The design verification statement is prepared by a design verifier stating that the design has been checked for design integrity and that the design has been produced in accordance with the referenced technical standards and engineering principles. It must be in writing and signed by the design verifier. The statement must include the name and address details of the verifier and business or employment details. Design verifier R. 253: A design verifier must document the verification process carried out by that person and the results of that process. 1 critical components. These are components or sub-assemblies the failure of which will leave the plant in a condition that exposes operators or others to an unacceptable risk level. PAGE 19 OF 48
A design can only be verified by a person who is eligible to be a design verifier under the WHS Regulations. The types of people who would be competent to verify the design of plant may include someone who: has educational or vocational qualifications in an engineering discipline relevant to the design to be verified has knowledge of the technical standards relevant to the design to be verified has the skills necessary to independently verify that the design was produced in accordance with the published technical standards and engineering principles used in the design is certified by a body that is accredited or approved by the Joint Accreditation System Australia and New Zealand or an equivalent overseas body to undertake conformity assessments of the design against the relevant technical standards. For example, this could include someone who is registered on the National Professional Engineers Register administered by the Institution of Engineers Australia and is determined by that Institution to be competent to design the structure, verify the design or inspect the plant or structure (as the case requires), or is a member of the Institution of Engineers Australia with the status of Chartered Professional Engineer. The design verifier must not have been involved in the plant design process. The design verifier cannot have been engaged by the same organisation that produced the design unless the organisation has a quality system in place that has been certified by a body accredited or approved by the Joint Accreditation system of Australia and New Zealand (JASANZ). Once the design is registered When a plant design is registered, the WHS regulator will issue a plant design registration document that will contain the registration number for the plant design and the date of effect on which the registration takes place. This document must be kept and made available for any inspection required under the WHS Act. If it is lost, stolen or destroyed, then you will need to apply to the WHS regulator that registered the plant for a replacement document as soon as possible outlining the reasons for needing a replacement. The WHS regulator may impose any conditions it considers appropriate on the registration of the plant design, including conditions in relation to record keeping or provision of information to the WHS regulator. The registration number must be given to the manufacturer, importer or supplier of plant. These duty holders must ensure that the design registration number is provided to the person with management or control of the plant at a workplace. Changes to design registration If the design of a registered plant is altered so as to require any new risk control measures, the altered design must be registered. PAGE 20 OF 48