The Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act (2004) ('the Act') applies to most Victorian transport, storage and trade workplaces. The exception is that workers in Federal government departments, agencies and business enterprises (eg Telstra, Australia Post) and some Australia wide companies such as Toll are covered by Comcare, and the Occupational Health and Safety (Work Health and Safety Bill) 2011 (more information) .
Read more about OHS in Victoria: Overview of OHS Legislation.
Under the OHS Act, the minister can declare regulations and compliance of practice, and WorkSafe Victoria can also release guidance notes, guidelines, alerts and so on.
Regulations:
The 2007 regulations apply - and for workers in these sectors, the following 'chapters' of the regulations are probably of particular importance to workers in the transport, storage and trade industries.
- Asbestos
- Certification of Plant Users and Operators
- Confined Spaces
- Hazardous substances
- Manual Handling
- Noise
- Plant
- Prevention of Falls
To see a summary of these, and other chapters, go to the Regulations section of the site.
Compliance Codes and Codes of Practice
Victoria has a number of general Compliance Codes (see this page for the list of these and links to the documents). A number of the old Codes of Practice are still available, but only as advisory documents - currently with no status under the 2004 Act.
The Dangerous Goods Act (1985) and Regulations may also be relevant in many construction workplaces. This Act and other Victorian legislation can be accessed on the Victorian Law Today website.
Regulation of all matters electrical
The Office of the Chief Electrical Inspector (OCEI) was the technical regulator and is responsible for electrical safety and equipment efficiency in Victoria, Australia. The OCEI has now been combined with the Gas authority into a new organisation called EnergySafe Victoria. It licenses and registers electrical workers and produces codes, guidelines and alerts. Visit the EnergySafe Victoria website for more information.
Last updated July 2015