NEW – Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 and Equipment Regulations 2017
The new Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (OHS Regulations) and Equipment (Public Safety) Regulations 2017 (EPS Regulations) will come into effect on 18 June 2017.
Victoria’s OHS Regulations and EPS Regulations 2007 will expire on 19 June 2017. WorkSafe was required to review and remake the OHS Regulations and EPS Regulations by this date.
The new OHS Regulations 2017 are mainly the same. However, if you are in a workplace where asbestos is present; are a manufacturer or an importing supplier of hazardous substances or agricultural and veterinary chemicals; work in construction; or operate a mine or major hazard facility, you will need to become aware of the changes. In most cases, compliance is required by 18 June 2017.
Most importantly, the new OHS Regulations 2017 maintain Victoria’s already high safety standards. In some high risk areas, like asbestos removal work, they improve standards. The changes also deliver significant savings to Victorian businesses in the areas of high risk work licensing and record keeping for designers and manufacturers of plant.
In you work in construction, you will need to be aware of changes to the scope of asbestos registers and asbestos removal work, and a new requirement to arrange notifications and barricades when removal work is being done. There are also changes to the duties for Class A and Class B asbestos removal licences.
For construction, emergency procedures are now required to be developed where there is a risk of a person becoming engulfed by soil or other materials on a construction site.
A range of supporting information has been developed to provide a clear overview of the changes to the OHS and EPS Regulations. These resources are now available to support duty holders, employees and members of the public to understand the regulatory changes and their impact, and to support preparation for when the Regulations come into effect on 18 June 2017.
Information and resources including a summary of the changes to both the OHS and EPS Regulations, reconciliation tables providing a comparison between regulation numbers in the 2007 and 2017 regulations and a link to the Regulations themselves can be found on the WorkSafe Victoria website.
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