Checklist for Hiring Out Construction Plant ... - WorkSafe Victoria

Construction & Utilities Program
Checklist for Hiring Out Construction
Plant & Equipment
1. Before purchasing or
leasing stock for hire, has
compliance with Victorian
health & safety
requirements been
confirmed?
2. Are new items
adequately prepared for
hiring?
3. Are customers provided
with appropriate advice
about the items they intend
to hire?
Prior to placing orders, obtain and retain written
confirmation that the items have been designed,
constructed and tested in compliance with applicable
health and safety legislation and relevant Australian
Standards, and will be supplied with the necessary
safe-use information in English.
When purchasing or leasing items of a type requiring
plant design notification to WorkSafe (or to an
equivalent interstate Authority), obtain and retain
written proof of the design notification.
Before items are added to hire stock, make sure:
• They have been correctly identified and, where
relevant, marked in accordance with the
applicable Australian Standard,
• Where appropriate, they have been assembled
and/or commissioned according to the
manufacturer’s instructions or applicable
Australian Standard,
• Their safe-use information has been reviewed
and, where necessary, amended to ensure its
consistency with applicable Australian Standards
and WorkSafe guidance material, and
• Customer service staff have been adequately
informed about the equipment’s intended use,
limitations and safe-use instructions.
Make sure that customer service staff:
• Confirm the suitability of requested items for the
customer’s needs and working environment,
• Inform the customer of any certification
requirements or appropriate qualifications for the
operation or use of the plant or equipment, and
• Accurately respond to enquiries about the safe
operation, use and maintenance of the plant or
equipment.
WorkSafe Victoria:Checklist for Hiring Out Construction Plant & Equipment
December 2006 Page 1 of 3

4. Is adequate written safeuse
information provided to
customers?
5. Is safe-use information
kept up to date?
6. Are safety design faults
appropriately dealt with?
7. Are items adequately
inspected and maintained
between each hiring and at
appropriate frequencies?
Provide written safe-use information for each specific
make and model of plant and equipment hired to the
customer. This includes, as appropriate:
• Data sheets, brochures and/or users’ checklists,
• Erection or assembly instructions,
• Description of skills or qualifications required for
operation or use, including certificates of
competency, specialist training or other
qualifications,
• Operators’ manuals,
• Description of personal protective equipment
necessary for its safe use or operation , and
• Any other health or safety information you have
that is relevant to the particular item.
Safe-use information should be accurate and up-todate.
Remove obsolete or superseded information from
stock normally accessed by customer service staff.
On becoming aware of new or revised safe-use
information or product recalls, promptly notify
customers who have hired affected items, and
maintain records of such notifications.
When staff, servicing contractors or customers advise
you of a potential safety design fault in a particular
item, promptly notify the designer, manufacturer,
importer or supplier wherever possible, and seek
advice on how to deal with the issue. Where none of
these is contactable, engage a suitably expert person
to advise you on the issue and what needs to be
done.
Between-hiring inspection and maintenance is
necessary to ensure that re-hired items are provided
in a serviceable condition, and that unserviceable or
obsolete items are removed from hire stock.
Where items are to be hired out for an extended
period, make arrangements with the customer for
inspection and maintenance at the intervals
recommended by the manufacturer or the applicable
Australian Standard.
Inspections and maintenance may be conducted onsite
where conditions are appropriate and the
necessary equipment is available.
Make sure that inspection, testing and servicing staff
or contractors are suitably instructed, trained and,
where appropriate, qualified.
Make sure that inspection and maintenance records
are kept and are readily accessible.
WorkSafe Victoria:Checklist for Hiring Out Construction Plant & Equipment
December 2006 Page 2 of 3

8. Are unserviceable or
obsolete items adequately
segregated and correctly
disposed of?
9. Are items hired for use
interstate in compliance
with local health and safety
requirements?
Do not re-hire items which have not been inspected
since returning to the hire depot.
Segregate items due for inspection or maintenance
and unserviceable items from ready-to-hire stock.
Dispose of items no longer in hire stock by:
• Selling or otherwise providing them in a safe and
serviceable condition, together with their safe-use
information and maintenance records, or
• Disposing of them as scrap, together with clear
written advice to that effect.
When supplying items to interstate customers, make
sure you have complied with the local health and
safety requirements for the importation and supply of
plant and equipment.
In most cases, this will be the same as in Victoria, but
where there is any uncertainty, obtain a copy of
current local OHS requirements. If you have difficulty
in doing this, seek advice from the relevant State or
Territory workplace health and safety authority.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR OBLIGATIONS AS A SUPPLIER
Section 30 of the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 requires
suppliers to ensure that items of plant intended for use at a workplace:
• Have been designed and constructed to be, so far as is practicable, safe and
without risks to health when properly used,
• Have been sufficiently tested and examined to ensure that this is so, and
• Are accompanied with adequate information about their intended purpose and
any conditions necessary to ensure their safe use.
In the case of certain types of equipment intended to be used in non-workplaces,
such as the home handyman market or for volunteer organisations, Section 8 of the
Victorian Equipment (Public Safety) Act 1994 also requires suppliers to ensure the
above. The equipment types to which this Act applies are listed in Regulation 105 of
the Equipment (Public Safety) (General) Regulations 1995.
Regulations made under these Acts also place specific obligations on suppliers of
plant and equipment. These include:
• The Occupational Health and Safety (Plant) Regulations 1995,
• The Occupational Health and Safety (Noise) Regulations 1992,
• The Occupational Health and Safety (Manual Handling) Regulations 1999,
and
• The Equipment (Public Safety) (General) Regulations 1995.
Requirements for certificates of competency are set out in the Occupational Health
and Safety (Certification of Plant Users and Operators) Regulations 1994.
The above legislation can be accessed through the Victorian Law Today web page
at:
www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au
WorkSafe Victoria:Checklist for Hiring Out Construction Plant & Equipment
December 2006 Page 3 of 3