Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association (ALPA) case study

The Australian Livestock & Property Agents Association (ALPA) is the National Peak Industry body for livestock and property agents.

ALPA represents more than 1,200 agency businesses across Australia. Collectively this group plays an important role in Livestock, Wool, Merchandise and Rural Property sales and marketing.

ALPA Members handle in excess of 97% of rural agency business Australia Wide. It is one of the largest organisations of small rural business men and women, relied on to protect the interests of agents and producers nationally.

Clearing Sale Safety

ALPA assists members in a multitude of ways; one of which is to provide guidance to agents to assist them help vendors in the management of safety obligations at Agricultural Clearing Sales.

In anticipation of the arrival of harmonisation of safety legislation across Australian jurisdictions, ALPA reviewed its clearing sale safety guidance, and Plant Assessor was delighted to provide some assistance in this process.

This resulted in the issue of a revised guidance document which is available to all ALPA members.

Vendors are “Suppliers” of Plant for WHS Legislation Purposes

A clearing sale vendor is a supplier of second hand plant and therefore must comply with the 2nd supplier provisions of the Workplace Health and Safety Laws.

Vendor obligations are outlined in Plant Assessor’s outline document Vendor Clearing Sale Safety Obligations.

The ALPA clearing sale safety pack advises agents to explain these obligations to vendors, and recommend that vendors consider obtaining expert assistance in satisfying these obligations – with Plant Assessor being a recommended expert organisation.

The Plant Assessor Inspection Process

Plant Assessor is the market leader in supply of plant inspection services to clearing sale vendors & agents.

The Plant Assessor inspection process is highly efficient, due to the use of the Plant Assessor inspection system. This allows us to guarantee the most comprehensive inspection process at the lowest overall cost.

Plant Assessor follows the process outlined below when conducting clearing sale plant inspections.

1. Review the sale inventory and determine what items are “plant” for legal purposes

2. Divide these items into:

   • Scrap items (category 1)

   • Items not worth enough to justify a detailed assessment (category 2)

   • Items requiring an individual inspection (category 3)

3. Scrap stickers applied to scrap items

4. Plant Assessor generic safety advices provided for category 2 items

5. Conduct detailed inspections on category 3 items

6. Print detailed reports and provide to agent/vendor

The Plant Assessor team is extremely proud to be associated with the ALPA clearing sale safety initiative.

Our clearing sale specialists are ready to help you with any upcoming clearing sales. For more details please Contact Us.