The Victorian
Occupational Health and Safety Act (2004) ('the Act') applies to all Victorian manufacturing and most Victorian workplaces. The exception is that the
Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment Act) 1991 (more information on the Commonwealth Act) applies to workers in Federal government departments, agencies and business enterprises (eg Telstra, Australia Post).
Read more about OHS in Victoria:
Overview of OHS Legislation.
Under the Act, the minister can declare regulations and codes of practice, and WorkSafe Victoria can also release guidance notes, guidelines, alerts and so on. Below is a list of regulations which are of particular importance to workers in construction and utilities.
Regulations:
- Asbestos
- Certification of Plant Users and Operators
- Confined Spaces
- Hazardous substances
- Incident Notification
- Manual Handling
- Noise
- Plant
- Prevention of Falls
You can access a summary of the Act and of most of the above regulations in the 'Law' section of the website. You can also access the other regulations there too.
Codes of Practice
Codes of Practice are advisory documents. These are available free from WorkSafe (phone 1800 136 089) or you can access them from the Codes page of this website.
- First Aid in the Workplace
- Hazardous substances
- Manual Handling
- Noise
- Plant
- Prevention of Falls
- Workplaces
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 and gas
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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.