New OHS Regulations for Victoria

From 1 July 2007 Victorian employers will face more rigorous OHS requirements.

The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007 consolidate and clarify the 13 OHS regulations currently operating in Victoria. However, they will also:

• put greater emphasis on the enforcement of OHS requirements and prosecution for breaches;
• impose further consultation and licensing requirements; and
• emphasise the need to control hazards and risks rather than just identifying and assessing them.

In addition, employers engaged in construction work will face new OHS requirements from 1 July 2008.

Prosecution for OHS Breaches

Breaches of the regulations will now be considered breaches of the OHS Act. Employers prosecuted for such breaches may be liable for penalties of up to $966,000 per offence.

Breaches of administrative requirements such as those relating to signage or record keeping may result in penalties of up to $50,000.

Consultation Requirements

The role of Health and Safety Representatives (HSR) in employer-employee consultations has been clarified.

In relation to a s 35 consultation, employers will be obliged to:

• provide the HSR with information the employer intends to provide to the employees (or if this is not practicable, provide the information to the HSR before providing the information to employees);
• invite the HSR to meet with the employer to consult about the matter;
• give the HSR a reasonable opportunity to express his/her view about the matter; and
• take into account the HSR's view about the matter.

New Licensing Arrangements

Rather than lasting indefinitely, a new licence for work prescribed by the Regulations (including high risk work and asbestos work) will last up to 5 years from the day it was granted. The licence renewal process will involve a self assessment and declaration process .

Employees with current certificates must obtain a new licence before the expiry of their current certificate.

Employees applying for high risk work licences must include with their application:

• if they hold a certificate of competency for the type of work covered by the licence, a declaration that they have maintained the competencies; or
• a statement of attainment in respect of the relevant competency standard for that work; or
• a notice of satisfactory assessment of competency for that work.

Control of hazards and risks

The new Regulations place emphasis on identifying and controlling hazards and risks in the workplace rather than merely identifying and assessing the risk.

Construction Industry

From 1 July 2008, the Construction part of the Regulations will commence. This will apply to employers who conduct work including:

any work performed in connection with the construction, alteration, conversion, fitting out, commissioning, renovation, refurbishment, decommissioning or demolition of any building or structure, or any similar activity

Such employers must as far as possible endeavour to eliminate any risk to health or safety associated with that work, or if they cannot eliminate the risk, control that risk by following the requirements set out in the Regulations.

This part of the Regulations will require employers performing high risk construction work to ensure that:

• a safe work method statement (SWMS) is prepared for the work before it commences;
• work is performed in accordance with the SWMS;
• they retain a copy of the SWMS for the duration of the high risk work or face penalties;
• employees are registered to perform construction work and possess a Construction Induction Card;
• where the value of construction work exceeds $250,000, appoint a principal contractor, or authorise the principal contractor to manage or control the workplace (otherwise, the owner will be considered the principal contractor). The principal contractor is responsible for ensuring safety coordination plans are prepared, monitored, maintained and kept up to date.

Please feel free to contact any of the persons listed to discuss the changes and how they may impact your organisation. Whilst the new Regulations generally consolidate the number of existing regulations, there are some changes that may require you to review your OHS policies, procedures and training requirements.