APPLICATION OF NATIONAL WHS LEGISLATION IN RELATION TO THE DESIGN, INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE OF PRESSURE EQUIPMENT

THE INTRODUCTION of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) (the WHS Act) and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) (the WHS Regulation) at the start of January 2012 has meant some changes for industry. This legislation is Queensland’s adoption of the model work health and safety legislation developed by Safe Work Australia. Plant, in particular pressure equipment, is one area that has seen changes in the legislation when compared to the previous Queensland workplace health and safety legislation. There are now specific regulations for the keeping of records for the design, installation and commissioning testing, decommissioning and dismantling of plant. Previously these requirements were covered by information included in the Queensland Code of Practice, Managing the risks of plant in the workplace. This paper will provide a brief overview of the requirements in the new legislation and highlight how it may be applied by operators of pressure equipment in the sugar industry. This could include plant such as vessels in compressed air systems, boilers and the associated steam heated vessels.The main topics are: design registration – who should apply; plant item registration – who should apply and what records must be kept; specific requirements for inspection of pressure equipment; Codes of Practice and reference to technical standards; pressure equipment – in-service inspection. These points are related to provisions of the WHS Regulation and should be read in conjunction with the general duties under the WHS Act. Information on the general duties can be found in the Guide to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 available for download from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland webpage. In addition to the WHS legislation, there may be other legislation that applies to the operation of sugar factory plant such as electrical safety legislation, petroleum and gas safety legislation, or environmental protection legislation.