Version No. 021
Occupational Health and Safety (Certification of Plant Users and Operators) Regulations 1994
S.R. No. 108/1994
Version incorporating amendments as at 28 October 2002
table of provisions
RegulationPage
1
RegulationPage
part 1—preliminary
1.Objective
2.Authorising provision
3.Commencement
4.Revocation of regulations made under the Lifts and Cranes
Act 1967 and Boilers and Pressure Vessels Act 1970
5.Revocation of regulations made under the Scaffolding Act 1971
6.Definitions
part 2—certificates of competency
7.Requirement to hold a certificate of competency
8.People to whom regulation 7 does not apply
9.Authority may grant exemptions
10.How to obtain a certificate of competency
11.How to apply for a notice of equivalent competency
12.How to apply for an assessment of competency
13.Process for re-assessment
14.Person may work while application is being processed
15.Grant of certificate of competency
16.Form of certificate of competency
part 3—training
17.Person in training to be under direct supervision
part 4—suspension and cancellation of certificates of competency
18.Suspension or cancellation of certificates
19.Partial suspension or cancellation of a certificate
20.Suspension or cancellation of certificate of competency issued under other legislation
21.Cancelled or suspended certificates must be returned
22.Authority may recommend the suspension or cancellation of interstate certificates
part 5—authorisation of certificate assessors
23.How to become a certificate assessor
24.Form of certificate of authorisation as a certificate assessor
25.Expiry and renewal of authorisation
26.Suspension or cancellation of authorisation
27.Suspended or cancelled certificates of authorisation must be returned
part 6—review of decisions
28.Decisions of the Authority
29.Decisions of a certificate assessor
part 7—general
30.Holder to produce certificate
31.Replacement of lost, stolen or destroyed certificates
32.Application forms must be filled in truthfully
33.Expiry date of scaffolder's certificate has no effect
34.Penalties for offences by bodies corporate
35.Transfer of a current certificate to a certificate of competency under these Regulations
36.Means of giving written notice under these Regulations
part 8—transitional provisions
37.Person previously not required to have a certificate of competency may work for 12 months without a certificate
38.Examiners previously authorised under other legislation may conduct assessments for 12 months
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SCHEDULES
SCHEDULE 1—Certificate classes
SCHEDULE 2—Classes of pressure equipment to which regulation7 does not apply
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ENDNOTES
1. General Information
2. Table of Amendments
3. Explanatory Details
1
Version No. 021
Occupational Health and Safety (Certification of Plant Users and Operators) Regulations 1994
S.R. No. 108/1994
Version incorporating amendments as at 28 October 2002
1
Occupational Health and Safety (Certification of Plant Users and Operators) Regulations 1994
S.R. No. 108/1994
Part 1—Preliminary
1.Objective
The objective of these Regulations is to minimise the incidence and severity of accidents involving cranes, fork-lift trucks, hoists and other mechanical loadshifting equipment, pressure equipment and scaffolding by establishing minimum standards of competency for people working with that equipment and implementing a certification system to ensure that those standards are observed.
2.Authorising provision
These Regulations are made under section 59 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985.
Reg. 3 amended by S.R. No. 83/1995 reg.5.
3.Commencement
These Regulations come into operation on the day that the Occupational Health and Safety (Plant) Regulations 1995 come into operation.
4.Revocation of regulations made under the Lifts and Cranes Act 1967 and Boilers and Pressure Vessels Act 1970
The following regulations are revoked—
(a)Lifts and Cranes (Certification of Operators) Regulations 1992[1]; and
(b)Lifts and Cranes (Certification of Operators) (Exemption) Regulations 1992[2]; and
(c)Lifts and Cranes (Certification of Operators) (Fees and Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 1993[3]; and
(d)Lifts and Cranes (Certification of Operators) (Fees) Regulations 1994[4]; and
(e)Boilers and Pressure Vessels (Steam Engine Drivers and Boiler Attendants) (Fees) Regulations 1988[5].
5.Revocation of regulations made under the Scaffolding Act 1971
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The following regulations are revoked—
(a)Scaffolding (Certification of Scaffolders) Regulations 1992[6]; and
(b)Scaffolding (Certification of Scaffolders) (Fees and Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 1993[7]; and
(c)Scaffolding (Certification of Scaffolders) (Fees) Regulations 1994[8].
6.Definitions
In these Regulations—
Reg. 6 def. of "Authority" inserted by S.R. No. 5/1998 reg.10(a).
"Authority" means the Victorian WorkCover Authority established under section 18 of the Accident Compensation Act 1985;
Reg. 6 def. of "boiler" amended by S.R. No. 83/1995 reg.6(a).
"boiler" means a vessel, or an arrangement of vessels, and interconnecting parts in which steam or other vapour is generated, or water or another liquid is heated at a pressure above that of the atmosphere by the application of fire, the products of combustion or similar means (other than electrical power), and includes any boiler setting and directly associated equipment and all valves, gauges, fittings and controls up to, and including, the first connection point after the first valve or valve assembly, but does not include—
(a)a fully flooded or pressurised system where water or other liquid is heated to a temperature lower than the normal atmospheric boiling temperature of the liquid; or
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(b)any vessel where the design of the vessel enables the vessel to operate deprived of all liquid or vapour that is intended to be heated, without affecting the structure or operation of the vessel; or
(c)a direct-fired process heater;
"boom-type elevating work platform" means a powered telescoping device, hinged device or articulated device or any combination of these used to support a platform on which personnel, equipment and materials may be elevated to perform work and which has a boom length of 11 metres or more;
"bridge crane" means a powered crane that consists of one or more bridge beams mounted at each end to an end carriage that is capable of travelling along elevated runways and that has one or more hoisting mechanisms that are able to travel across the bridge beam or beams, but does not include a crane that has 3 or fewer powered operations and that is controlled from a location remote to a permanent cabin or control station on the crane;
Reg. 6 def. of "certificate assessor" amended by S.R. No. 5/1998 reg.10(b).
"certificate assessor" means a person who is authorised by the Authority under regulation23 to assess whether a person is competent to hold a certificate of competency or a person authorised by another statutory authority to carry out equivalent assessments;
Reg. 6 def. of "certificate of competency" amended by S.R. No. 5/1998 reg.10(c).
"certificate of competency" means a certificate listed in Schedule 1 issued by the Authority;
Reg. 6 def. of "competency standard" amended by S.R. No. 104/2002 reg.601(1)
(b)(c).
"competency standard" means—
(a)a competency standard contained in Schedule A, B or C to the National Occupational Health and Safety Certification Standard for Users and Operators of Industrial Equipment as published by the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission and amended from time to time; and
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(b)in respect of fork-lift truck and order-picking fork-lift truck operation, a competency standard for loadshifting equipment as contained in the National Guidelines for Occupational Health and Safety Competency Standards for the Operation of Loadshifting Equipment and Other Types of Specified Equipment as published by the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission and amended from time to time; and
(c)in respect of winder operation, a competency standard for winder operations published by the Authority and amended from time to time;
"concrete placing boom" means a powered mobile truck-mounted plant incorporating a knuckle boom that is capable of power-operated slewing and luffing to place concrete by way of pumping through a pipeline attached to, or forming part of, the boom of the plant;
"crane" means an appliance intended for raising and lowering a load and moving it horizontally but does not include industrial lift-trucks, earthmoving machinery, amusement structures, tractors, industrial robots or lifts;
"derrick crane" means a powered slewing strut-boom crane with its boom pivoted at the base of a mast which is either guyed or held by backstays and which is capable of luffing under load;
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"direct-fired process heater" means an arrangement of tubes comprising one or more coils located in the radiant zone or convection zone or both of a combustion chamber, whose prime purpose is to raise the temperature of a process fluid which is circulated through the coils, to allow distillation or fractionation or reaction or other petrochemical process of that process fluid, which may be entirely liquid, entirely gas or in a phase between liquid and gas;
"dogging" means the application of slinging techniques, including the selection or inspection of lifting gear, or the directing of a crane or hoist operator in the movement of a load when the load is out of the operator's view;
"forest produce" has the same meaning as contained in section 3 of the Forests Act 1958 where used in reference to, or in connection with, or as to anything in, any reserved forest[9];
"forestry operations" means those operations directly associated with removing forest produce from any forest;
"fork-lift truck" means a powered industrial truck equipped with a mast and an elevating load carriage to which is attached a pair of forkarms or other loadholding attachment, including a truck on which the operator is raised with the attachment for order-picking, but does not include a pedestrian operated industrial truck;
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"gantry crane" means a powered crane consisting of one or more bridge beams supported at each end by legs mounted on end carriages and that is capable of travelling on supporting surfaces or deck levels, whether fixed or not, and that has a crab with one or more hoisting units that are able to travel across the bridge beam or beams, but does not include a crane that has 3 or fewer powered operations and that is controlled from a location remote to a permanent cabin or control station on the crane;
"hoist" means an appliance intended for raising or lowering a load or personnel and includes a mast climbing work platform, a personnel and materials hoist, a slip form or jump form, but does not include a lift;
"materials platform hoist" means a powered builder's hoist by which only goods or materials and not personnel may be hoisted and where the car, bucket or platform is cantilevered from, and travels up and down externally to, a face of the support structure;
"mechanical loadshifting equipment" includes cranes, hoists, cableways, flying foxes, winches, blocks and purchases which incorporate sheaves, jacks and air bags;
Reg.6 def. of "mine" insertedby S.R.No. 104/2002 reg.601(1)(a).
"mine" means—
(a)a workplace at which work is being done under a mining licence granted under the Mineral Resources Development Act 1990; or
(b)a workplace at which exploration, within the meaning of the Mineral Resources Development Act 1990, in the form of—
(i)underground work of any kind; or
(ii)drilling from the surface for coal-bed methane—
is being done under an exploration licence granted under the Mineral Resources Development Act 1990; or
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(c)in relation to a tourist mine within the meaning of the Mineral Resources Development Act 1990, those parts of the mine that are underground and all infrastructure and plant associated with the underground workings;
"non-slewing mobile crane" means a powered mobile crane with a capacity of more than 3tonnes and which incorporates a boom or jib that is not capable of being slewed, including an articulated type mobile crane and a locomotive crane, but does not include a crane engaged in vehicle tow truck operations;
"order-picking fork-lift truck" means a powered industrial truck of the type where the operator's control arrangement is incorporated with the load carriage or lifting media, and elevates with it;
"personnel and materials hoist" means a powered builder's hoist by which personnel, goods or materials may be hoisted, and which comprises a car, structure, machinery or other equipment associated with the hoist, and which may be either a cantilever hoist, a tower hoist or a multiple winch operation;
"portal boom crane" means a powered jib or boom crane mounted on a portal frame that is supported on runways along which the crane may travel;
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"pressure equipment" means a boiler, a turbine or a reciprocating steam engine;
"primary production" means enterprises whose business is that of producing crops, plants or fruit or of maintaining or rearing animals for the purpose of selling them or their bodily produce;
"reciprocating steam engine" means any steam plant where the steam acts upon a piston under pressure where this action of the steam causes the piston to move, but does not include an expanding (steam) reciprocating engine with any piston diameter of 250millimetres or less;
"rigging" means the use of mechanical loadshifting equipment and associated gear to move, place or secure a load including plant, equipment or members of a building or structure and to ensure the stability of those members and for the setting up and dismantling of cranes and hoists, but does not include the setting up of a crane or hoist which only requires the positioning of integral outriggers or stabilisers;
"scaffolding" means the erection, alteration or dismantling of a temporary structure, specifically erected to support platforms, where the structure is such that a person or object could fall more than 4 metres from the structure;
Reg.6 def. of "shaft conveyance" insertedby S.R.No. 104/2002 reg.601(1)(a).
"shaft conveyance" means a cage, skip, kibble or other contrivance in or on which persons ride up or down a shaft, but does not include any attachments to that cage, skip, kibble or other contrivance;
"slewing mobile crane" means a powered mobile crane incorporating a boom or jib that is capable of being slewed, but does not include a front-end loader, a backhoe, an excavator or similar equipment when configured for crane operation;
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"slinging techniques" in relation to dogging means those slinging techniques that require judgement to be exercised in relation to the suitability and condition of lifting gear, and the method of slinging, by consideration of the nature of the load, its mass and its centre of gravity;
"statutory authority" means a person or body that has the power under the law of the Commonwealth of Australia or the law of an Australian State or Territory to issue certificates equivalent to the certificates of competency listed in Schedule 1;
"tower crane" means a powered jib or boom crane mounted on a tower structure that is demountable or permanent, and includes both horizontal and luffing jib types;
"turbine" means any plant where steam acts on a turbine or rotor to cause a rotary motion, but does not include steam turbines and expansion turbines with a power output of less than 500 kW;
Reg. 6 def. of "vehicle loading crane" amended by S.R. No. 83/1995
reg. 6(b).
"vehicle loading crane" means a powered slewing crane mounted on a vehicle for the principal purpose of loading and unloading the vehicle and that has a capacity of 10metre tonnes or more;
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Reg.6 def. of "winder" insertedby S.R.No. 104/2002 reg.601(1)(a).
"winder" means an electrical or compressed air or hydraulic or other power driven unit, single or multi-drum, which by use of ropes, sheave wheels and a shaft conveyance, is used to raise or lower persons or materials from level to level and includes a friction winder.
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Part 2—Certificates of Competency
7.Requirement to hold a certificate of competency
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(1)A person must not do any of the work encompassed by a certificate of competency unless he or she holds an appropriate certificate of competency in relation to that work.
Penalty:100 penalty units.
(2)An employer must not allow an employee to do any such work unless the employee holds an appropriate certificate of competency with respect to that work.
Penalty:100 penalty units.
(3)A person who holds a certificate of competency for rigging work is not required to also hold a certificate of competency for crane or hoist operation for the purpose of setting up or dismantling a crane or hoist if the operation of the crane or hoist is integral to the setting up or dismantling.
(4)A reference to a certificate of competency in this regulation includes a reference—
(a)to an equivalent certificate that was issued by a statutory authority outside Victoria; or
(b)to a certificate of competency that was issued under the Lifts and Cranes Act 1967, the Boilers and Pressure Vessels Act 1970 or the Scaffolding Act 1971 or regulations made under those Acts, and that was in force immediately before the day these Regulations came into operation; or
(c)to a certificate that is equivalent to a certificate of competency that was issued under the Lifts and Cranes Act 1967, the Boilers and Pressure Vessels Act 1970 or the Scaffolding Act 1971 or regulations made under those Acts, and that was in force immediately before the day these Regulations came into operation.
(5)A reference to a certificate of competency in this regulation does not include a reference to a certificate that is presently suspended (either wholly or in relation to the work being performed) in Victoria or another Australian jurisdiction.
(6)Sub-regulation (4) only applies to a certificate that is being used in accordance with the terms and conditions under which it was granted.
8.People to whom regulation 7 does not apply
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(1)Regulation 7(1) does not apply to a person—
(a)who is undertaking training in accordance with Part 3 for the purpose of gaining a certificate of competency; or
(b)who is a person who is authorised to work under regulation 14; or
(c)who was exempted from holding a certificate of competency under an exemption that was in force immediately before the day these Regulations came into operation, but only for so long as the terms (if any) of that exemption continue to be complied with and—
(i)only for so long as was provided for in that exemption; or
Reg. 8(1)(c)(ii) amended by S.R. No. 5/1998 reg.11(a).
(ii)only until the exemption is revoked by the Authority—
(whichever occurs sooner); or
(d)who is performing work that is the subject of a notice of exemption under regulation9(3)(a).
(2)Regulation 7(2) does not apply to an employer in respect of the performance of work by an employee to whom regulation 7(1) does not apply in respect of that work.
(3)A reference to an exemption in sub-regulation (1)(c) does not include a reference to an exemption prescribed under the Lifts and Cranes (Certification of Operators) (Exemption) Regulations 1992.
(4)Regulation 7 also does not apply to a person operating or employing another person to operate—
(a)a fork-lift truck; or
(b)an order-picking fork-lift truck—
in connection with the normal work of primary production or forestry operations while the person is operating or employing another person to operate that equipment.
(5)Regulation 7 also does not apply to any person operating or employing another person to operate any of the classes of pressure equipment listed in Schedule 2 while the person is operating or employing another person to operate that equipment and the conditions (if any) set out in Schedule 2 in relation to that equipment have been, or are being, (as the case may be) complied with.