How to ace the machinery and equipment requirements of a FSC audit

Winning construction projects that are funded by the Australian government requires you to be accredited under the Australian Government Building and Construction Work Health and Safety Accreditation Scheme. We’ll just call it ‘The Scheme’ from now on.

But what does that involve? And how can you ace the audit when The Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner (OFSC) reviews your machinery safety systems?

What is the OFSC?

Set up in 2005, the OFSC exists to ‘improve workplace health and safety (WHS) practices on building and construction sites across Australia’. In a nutshell, the OFSC ensures that any contractor working on a project that’s funded, directly or indirectly by the Australian Government, is meeting certain safety standards. The accreditation scheme it has implemented aims to improve safety practices across the industry, by ensuring building and construction companies adhere to a range of operating and reporting practices, all designed around site safety.

What’s involved?

To get accredited, there’s a two stage process. The first is an application, in which you will detail your company’s WHS performance, any gaps in your systems, and general information about your company operations and projects. It’s the second stage that earns you the accreditation; an on-site audit that evaluates your safety management systems, stress-tests your processes and evaluates your reporting. Anyone who has been through an FSC audit will attest to the fact that they are rigorous, and that it’s difficult to satisfy the audit criteria. To find out more about FSC audits, check out our article What is an FSC audit?

The criteria 

The criteria for the FSC audit includes:

Requirement	Plant Assessor
WH3 Legal Requirement: Ensure all WHS legislation, COPs and Australian Standards are identified, and changes are monitored.
WH12 Hazard Identification Risk Assessment Control (HIRAC): Ensure control measures are established using the hierarchy of controls and in accordance with WHS legislation, COPs and Australian Standards.
FP4 Management of Subcontractor WHS: Ensure subbies are provided with information from WHS plan relevant to the work they are undertaking, and that site induction, SWMS and WHS inspections are undertaken.
H16 Mobile Plant: Ensure risks of mobile plant are identified, assessed and controlled in accordance with hierarchy of controls. Ensure plant risk assessment is carried out on all items of plant, considering all aspects of the plant lifecycle on a project. Safe systems of work taking into account OEM manuals, risk assessment, site specific requirements and operator protective guards. Ensure all workers operating plant are licensed, trained or competent. Ensure there is an inspection regime, specific to the needs of the type of mobile plant, including regulatory inspections, OEM inspection and service requirements, pre-start inspections and commissioning prior to use on site.