1Objectives

The objectives of these Regulations are—

(a)

to declare certain equipment to be prescribed equipment for the purposes of the Equipment (Public Safety) Act 1994 and these Regulations; and

(b)

to provide for the health and safety of persons and the identification and control of risks in relation to prescribed equipment; and

(c)

for the purposes of identifying whether preventative action is necessary following an incident occurring at an equipment site—

(i)

to specify notifiable incidents; and

(ii)

to prescribe procedures relating to notifiable incidents involving prescribed equipment.

2Authorising provision

These Regulations are made under section 36 of the Equipment (Public Safety) Act 1994.

3Commencement

These Regulations come into operation on 18 June 2017.

4Revocation

The following Regulations are revoked—

(a)

the Equipment (Public Safety) Regulations 2007^[1];

(b)

the Equipment (Public Safety) Amendment Regulations 2014^[2].

5Interpretation

(1)

In these Regulations—

administrative control means a system of work or a work procedure that is designed to eliminate or reduce risk, but does not include—

(a)

a physical control; or

(b)

the use of personal protective equipment;

agency means a person or body that has the power under a law of the Commonwealth or a law of an Australian State or Territory to require design notice or registration of prescribed equipment in a manner that is reasonably equivalent to the requirements under Part 8;

alter, in relation to prescribed equipment, means to change the design of, add to, or take away from the prescribed equipment in a way that may affect health or safety, but does not include routine maintenance, repairs or replacements;

AMBSC Code means Australian Miniature Boiler Safety Committee Code Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 published by the Australian Miniature Boiler Safety Committee;

amusement structure means powered equipment operated for hire or reward that provides entertainment or amusement through movement of the equipment, or part of the equipment, or when passengers travel on, around or along the equipment;

AS 2030—Gas Cylinders means—

(a)

AS 2030.1 Gas cylinders, Part 1: General requirements; and

(b)

AS 2030.2 The verification, filling, inspection, testing and maintenance of cylinders for the storage and transport of compressed gases, Part 2: Cylinders for dissolved acetylene; and

(c)

AS 2030.4 The verification, filling, inspection, testing and maintenance of cylinders for the storage and transport of compressed gases, Part 4: Welded cylinders–insulated; and

(d)

AS 2030.5 Gas cylinders, Part 5: Filling, inspection and testing of refillable cylinders;

boiler means a boiler within the meaning of AS/NZS 1200 Pressure equipment with a hazard level A, B, C or D as determined by AS 4343 Pressure equipment—Hazard levels;

boom-type elevating work platform means a powered telescoping device (including vertical and inclined), hinged device or articulated device or any combination of those devices used to support a platform on which persons, equipment and materials may be elevated to perform work, but does not include an industrial lift truck;

bridge crane means a crane that—

(a)

consists of one or more bridge beams mounted at each end to an end carriage; and

(b)

is capable of travelling along elevated runways; and

(c)

has one or more hoisting mechanisms that are able to travel across the bridge beam or beams;

building maintenance equipment means a suspended platform, including a building maintenance unit or a swing stage, that incorporates permanently installed overhead supports to provide access to the faces of a building for maintenance, but does not include a suspended scaffold;

building maintenance unit means a powered appliance with a suspended platform, permanently installed or intended to be permanently installed on a building and specifically designed to provide access to the faces of the building, for a person working from the platform;

chairlift means an aerial powered ropeway that incorporates either elevated open chairs or closed cabins (gondola-type);

commissioning means performing the necessary adjustments, tests and inspections to ensure prescribed equipment is in full working order, in accordance with the requirements specified in the design of the prescribed equipment, before the prescribed equipment commences normal operation for the first time or restarts operation;

concrete-placing boom means powered mobile truck-mounted equipment incorporating a knuckle boom that is capable of power‑operated slewing and luffing to place concrete by way of pumping concrete through a pipeline attached to, or forming part of, the boom of the equipment;

conveyor means equipment (including the superstructure, gear and auxiliary equipment used in connection with the equipment) by which loads are, or are capable of being, raised, lowered, transported or continuously driven, by—

(a)

an endless belt, rope or chain or other similar means; or

(b)

buckets, trays or other containers or fittings moved by an endless belt, rope, chain or similar means; or

(c)

a rotating screw; or

(d)

a vibration or walking beam; or

(e)

a powered roller conveyor if the rollers are driven by an endless belt, rope or chain or other similar means;

crane means an appliance intended for raising or lowering a load and moving it horizontally (including the supporting structure of the appliance and its foundations) but does not include any of the following—

(a)

an industrial lift truck;

(b)

earthmoving machinery;

(c)

an amusement structure;

(d)

a tractor;

(e)

an industrial robot;

(f)

a conveyor;

(g)

building maintenance equipment;

(h)

a suspended scaffold;

(i)

a lift;

decommissioning, in relation to prescribed equipment, includes performing necessary adjustments, tests and inspections before the prescribed equipment ceases operation and during the process of ceasing operation;

earthmoving machinery means powered equipment used to excavate, load, transport, compact or spread earth, overburden, rubble, spoil, aggregate or similar material, but does not include a tractor or industrial lift truck or a vehicle designed to be used primarily as a means of transport on public roads;

emergency stop device means a device that immediately stops, or effectively isolates the hazardous operation of, an item of prescribed equipment and requires manual resetting;

Note

An emergency stop device is not an operational stop control (see the definition of operational stop control).

engineering control means a physical control of any kind that is designed to eliminate or reduce a risk, but does not include—

(a)

a system of work or procedure; or

(b)

the use of personal protective equipment;

explosive-powered tool means an implement used to drive fasteners (including nails, bolts and screws) against, into or through material by means of explosive charges, and includes every attachment to, and accessory of, the implement, but does not include a firearm within the meaning of the Firearms Act 1996;

gantry crane means a powered crane that—

(a)

consists of a bridge beam or beams that are supported at one or both ends by legs mounted to end carriages; and

(b)

is capable of travelling along runways; and

(c)

has one or more hoisting mechanisms;

gas cylinder means a rigid vessel not exceeding 3000 litres water capacity and without openings or integral attachments on the shell other than at the ends, designed for the storage and transport of gas under pressure and to which AS 2030—Gas Cylinders applies;

Notes

1 See the definition of AS 2030—Gas Cylinders which encompasses AS 2030.1, AS 2030.2, AS 2030.4 and AS 2030.5.

2 A gas cylinder may be of any shape.

hoist means an appliance intended for raising or lowering persons or a load and includes a mast climbing work platform, a personnel and materials hoist, a scaffolding hoist and a serial hoist, but does not include a lift or building maintenance equipment;

industrial lift truck means powered mobile prescribed equipment (other than a crane or earthmoving machinery) comprising a mast with an elevating carriage to which a pair of fork arms or other loadholding attachment is attached including—

(a)

a truck on which the operator is raised with the attachment for order-picking; and

(b)

a truck where the frame and lift unit straddle, raise, lower, move or stack the load;

industrial robot means equipment that is a multifunctional manipulator and its controllers, capable of handling materials, parts or tools or specialised devices, through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks;

laser means equipment that produces a beam of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range from 100 nanometres to 1 millimetre that is used for cutting, alignment, scanning or measurement, but does not include equipment that produces light beams at these wavelengths for the primary purpose of illumination;

lift means permanent equipment, or equipment intended to be permanently installed, in or attached to a building or structure in which persons, goods or materials may be raised or lowered within a car, chair or cage or on a platform and the movement of which is restricted by a guide or guides and includes an escalator, a moving walk and a stairway lift;

mast climbing work platform means equipment with a working platform used to support and elevate persons, equipment and materials by means of a drive system that moves along an extendable mast, but does not include a lift or building maintenance equipment;

mobile crane means a crane capable of travelling over a supporting surface without the need for fixed runways;

operational stop control means a device used to stop an item of prescribed equipment under normal operation, but does not include an emergency stop device;

operator controls includes an operational stop control and an emergency stop device;

Reg. 5(1) def. of powered mobile prescribed equipment amended by S.R. No. 22/2024 reg. 5.

powered mobile prescribed equipment means prescribed equipment that is provided with some form of self-propulsion that is ordinarily under the direct control of an operator;

presence-sensing safeguarding system includes—

(a)

a sensing system that—

(i)

is an electro-sensitive or pressure sensitive system that employs optoelectronic or pressure sensitive devices to perform a sensing and a control function; or

(ii)

uses other technologies to perform a sensing and a control function; and

(b)

the interface between the final switching devices of the sensing system and the machine primary control elements; and

(c)

the machine stopping capabilities, by which the presence of a person or part of a person within the sensing field will cause the dangerous parts of a machine to be brought to a safe state before the person can reach the dangerous parts;

pressure equipment means boilers, pressure vessels and pressure piping;

pressure piping means pressure piping within the meaning of AS/NZS 1200 Pressure equipment, with a hazard level A, B, C or D as determined by AS 4343 Pressure equipment—Hazard levels, but does not include pressure piping that is regulated under—

(a)

the Gas Safety Act 1997; or

(b)

the Petroleum Act 1998; or

(c)

the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2010; or

(d)

the Water Industry Act 1994; or

(e)

the Pipelines Act 2005; or

(f) any other Act (other than the Equipment (Public Safety) Act 1994) that imposes statutory controls over pressure piping comparable to those listed in paragraphs (a) to (e);

pressure vessel means—

(a)

a pressure vessel within the meaning of AS/NZS 1200 Pressure equipment, with a hazard level A, B, C or D as determined by AS 4343 Pressure equipment—Hazard levels; or

(b)

a fired heater; or

(c)

a gas cylinder—

but does not include a boiler or pressure piping;

published technical standard means a document that gives technical information, guidance or advice on prescribed equipment, that is published by—

(a)

an agency; or

(b)

Standards Australia; or

(c)

the British Standards Institute; or

(d)

the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO); or

(e)

an organisation with substantially equivalent objectives in relation to the publication of technical information, guidance or advice on equipment to the organisations listed in paragraphs (a) to (d);

reach stacker means powered mobile prescribed equipment that—

(a) incorporates a non-slewing boom with a permanently fitted lifting frame where the only means of lifting is by twist locks; and

(b)

is designed for raising and lowering shipping containers and moving them horizontally—

but does not include a shore-based container handling gantry crane;

roll-over protection means a structure to protect the operator of a tractor or other powered mobile prescribed equipment against injury as a result of the tractor or equipment rolling over in any direction;

rope access equipment means equipment used to manually lower or raise a person in a harness or seat, supported by one or more fibre ropes and includes the equipment used to anchor or haul the rope or ropes while the person is lowered and raised;

scaffold means a temporary structure specifically erected to support access or working platforms;

self-erecting tower crane means a tower crane where—

(a)

the tower structure and boom or jib elements are not disassembled into component sections; and

(b)

the crane can be transported between sites as a complete unit; and

(c)

erection and dismantling processes are an inherent part of the crane's function;

suspended scaffold means a scaffold incorporating a suspended platform that is capable of being raised or lowered when in use;

temporary access equipment means the following—

(a)

rope access equipment;

(b)

a work box;

(c)

an industrial safety net;

(d)

equipment incorporating a harness that is used or intended to be used to arrest the fall of a person wearing the harness;

the Act means the Equipment (Public Safety) Act 1994;

tower crane means a powered boom or jib crane mounted on a tower structure;

tractor means a powered vehicle primarily designed to haul and provide power for agricultural or horticultural machinery or implements by way of a power-takeoff rotating shaft or other mechanical means, but does not include—

(a)

earthmoving machinery; or

(b)

a passenger vehicle;

turbine means a rotary motor or rotary engine driven by a flow of water, steam or gas primarily intended for the production of electricity;

vehicle hoist means a hoist that is permanently installed or designed to be permanently installed at an equipment site to elevate a vehicle to allow work to be performed on the vehicle;

work box means a device for carrying persons, designed to be suspended from a crane, to provide a working area for persons elevated by and working from the device;

workpiece means material, off-cut or scrap (in any form) on which an item of prescribed equipment is doing work or that is produced by an item of prescribed equipment, but does not include a load being lifted or moved by the prescribed equipment.

(2)

Any reference in these Regulations to—

(a)

designer, manufacturer, importer or supplier, in relation to prescribed equipment, is a reference to a person who designs, manufactures, imports or supplies (as the case requires) that prescribed equipment; or

(b)

prescribed equipment or a type of prescribed equipment includes any component of the equipment or type of equipment and anything fitted, connected or belonging to the equipment or type of equipment.

6Equipment that is declared to be prescribed equipment

(1)

For the purposes of the Act and these Regulations the following types of equipment are declared to be prescribed equipment—

(a)

subject to subregulation (2), equipment that processes material by way of a mechanical action that—

(i)

cuts, drills, punches or grinds the material; or

(ii)

presses, forms, hammers, joins or moulds the material; or

(iii)

combines, mixes, sorts, packages, assembles, knits or weaves the material—

including equipment where the functions referred to in subparagraphs (i), (ii) and (iii) are incidental to the main purpose of the equipment;

(b)

subject to subregulation (2), equipment that lifts or moves persons or materials (other than a ship, boat, aircraft or vehicle designed to be used primarily as a means of transport on a public road or by rail);

(c)

pressure equipment;

(d)

tractors;

(e)

earthmoving machinery;

(f)

lasers;

(g)

scaffolds;

(h)

temporary access equipment;

(i)

explosive-powered tools;

(j)

turbines;

(k)

amusement structures.

Example

An example of materials under subregulation (1)(b) includes objects and substances such as empty receptacles, bins, landfill rubbish, metals and soil.

(2)

Subregulations (1)(a) and (1)(b) do not include—

(a)

equipment that relies exclusively on manual power for its operation; or

(b)

equipment that is designed to be primarily supported by hand.

(3)

Unless specified otherwise, these Regulations apply to all prescribed equipment irrespective of the date on which the prescribed equipment was manufactured.

7Authority may grant an exemption from these Regulations

(1)

The Authority may exempt the following from any requirement of, or prohibition in, these Regulations—

(a)

specific prescribed equipment or a class of prescribed equipment;

(b)

any person or class of persons.

(2)

The Authority may grant an exemption on—

(a)

its own initiative; or

(b)

the written application of any person.

(3)

The Authority may grant an exemption under—

(a)

subregulation (1)(a) if the Authority is satisfied that the risk associated with the prescribed equipment is not significant; or

(b)

subregulation (1)(b) if the Authority is satisfied that the person can demonstrate that the person is capable of achieving an equivalent level of health and safety in relation to the design of the prescribed equipment or the prescribed equipment under the person's control or management that would be achieved if the person had complied with these Regulations.

(4)

The Authority may impose conditions on an exemption in relation to—

(a)

the commencement date and duration of the exemption; and

(b)

any systems of work or processes to be used or implemented by the applicant for the exemption; and

(c)

any monitoring or recording of health and safety information associated with the prescribed equipment exempted; and

(d)

any monitoring or recording of systems of work or processes used by the person exempted; and

(e)

a requirement for the applicant to give notice of the application and conditions of the exemption to any specified person who may be affected.

(5)

If, in response to an application under subregulation (2)(b), the Authority—

(a)

grants an exemption, the Authority must give a copy of the exemption to the applicant within 14 days of the Authority's decision to grant the exemption; or

(b)

refuses to grant an exemption, the Authority must notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for the refusal within 14 days of the Authority's decision to refuse to grant the exemption.

(6)

The Authority, by written notice given to the applicant, may at any time vary or revoke an exemption.

(7)

A notice under subregulation (6) must—

(a)

be provided to the applicant within 14 days of the Authority's decision to vary or revoke the exemption; and

(b)

include the reasons for the Authority's decision to vary or revoke the exemption.

(8)

A variation or revocation of an exemption under subregulation (6) takes effect—

(a)

on the day on which the person to whom the exemption applies is given written notice of the variation or revocation; or

(b)

on the day specified in the written notice, which must be a date later than the date on which the person to whom the exemption applies receives the notice.

(9)

The Authority may charge a fee of 46·2 fee units for the consideration of an application for exemption under this regulation.

(10)

The Authority must not grant an exemption to a person unless the person has paid the fee set out in subregulation (9).

8Incorporated documents

A reference in these Regulations to any document applied, adopted or incorporated by, or referred to in, these Regulations is to be read as a reference to that document as in force from time to time.

9Hazard identification and risk control measures may be for classes of prescribed equipment

(1)

This regulation applies to a person who is required under these Regulations to identify hazards and control risks associated with prescribed equipment.

(2)

A person referred to in subregulation (1) may carry out procedures to identify the hazards and control risks for a class of prescribed equipment rather than for an individual item of prescribed equipment if—

(a)

all the prescribed equipment in the class have similar functions and productive capacity; and

(b)

the identification and control measures carried out for the class of prescribed equipment do not result in any person being subject to a greater, additional or different risk associated with prescribed equipment than if the identification and control measures were carried out for each individual item of prescribed equipment.

(3)

A reference in this regulation to a person being under a duty to control risks associated with prescribed equipment is a reference to a requirement that the person eliminate the risks or, if it is not practicable to eliminate the risks, reduce the risks so far as is practicable.

10Hazard identification

A designer of prescribed equipment must, so far as is practicable, identify all hazards associated with the use of the prescribed equipment during the design of the prescribed equipment.

Penalty: 100 penalty units for a natural person;

400 penalty units for a body corporate.

11Control of risk

A designer of prescribed equipment must ensure that any risk associated with the use of the prescribed equipment—

(a)

is eliminated, so far as is practicable; or

(b)

if it is not practicable to eliminate the risk, is reduced so far as is practicable by altering the design of the prescribed equipment.

Penalty: 100 penalty units for a natural person;

400 penalty units for a body corporate.

12Specific risk control measures

(1)

A designer of prescribed equipment must ensure that the prescribed equipment is designed so that the risk to the operators of the prescribed equipment and persons in the vicinity of the prescribed equipment when the prescribed equipment is used—

(a)

is eliminated, so far as is practicable; or

(b)

if it is not practicable to eliminate the risk, is reduced so far as is practicable.

Penalty: 60 penalty units for a natural person;

300 penalty units for a body corporate.

(2)

A designer of prescribed equipment must ensure that if particular systems of work or the competency of operators will eliminate or reduce risk, they are specified in the information supplied to the manufacturer under regulation 17.

Penalty: 60 penalty units for a natural person;

300 penalty units for a body corporate.

Equipment (Public Safety) Regulations 2017

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