Simplifying Safety:

Our Conceptual Model

The Plant Safety Management Model identifies three key elements of a plant safety management system.

This article focuses on the Safe Plant element of the Plant Safety Management.

Ensure plant is safe for use

Focus Area 1: Detailed plant hazard assessment review against –

• OH&S Legislation
• Australian & International Standards
• Leading industry practice

Focus Area 2: Daily inspection & fault rectification process

Focus Area 3: Proactive & robust maintenance regime

Focus Area 4: Standard Safe Operating Procedure (SOP)

Ensure the operator is competent to operate the plant & perform the task required

Focus Area 1: Operator Training & Competency Assessment

Focus Area 2: General Safety System Knowledge

Focus Area 3: Site & Task Specific Procedures & Knowledge

Focus Area 1: Detailed Plant Hazard Assessment

Focus Area 2: Daily Inspection & Fault Rectification Process

Focus Area 3: Proactive & Robust Maintenance Regime

Focus Area 4: Standard Safe Operating Procedures for

Plant Item

Ensure site & task hazards are identified, assessed & controlled

Focus Area 1: Site Review

Focus Area 2: Project task review

Focus Area 3: Prepare the WHS Management Plan

Focus Area 4: Implementing high impact elements of WHS Management Plan

Ensuring safe plant is provided to a work team or project for use is a fundamental element of a plant safety management system.

There are four focus areas to ensure safe plant and these four areas are considered below – 

ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING PLANT FLEET – DEVELOPING YOUR PLANT HAZARD ASSESSMENT PLAN

The legislative obligation to periodically reassess plant items gives rise to the need to develop a plant hazard assessment plan

– not unlike a plant maintenance schedule.

In developing a plant hazard assessment plan, two key questions need to be considered:

1. Which plant items should I assess, and in what order?
2. How often do I need to reassess plant items?

The answers to these questions may be different for different users, and depends on the actual and perceived risk of the plant items.

Determining the risk of plant items is partially subjective and requires consideration of a number of factors.

Plant Assessor approaches this task as follows:

Step 1: Risk Ranking of Plant

1. List all plant fleet (type/make/model/identifier/workgroup )
2. Sort list by plant type (e.g. excavators, backhoes, cranes, fixed plant )
3. Consider the risk of each type of plant, including:
   1. Complexity of plant item
   2. Used for and in what environment(s)
   3. Incident history
4. Rank plant types by risk (1 = high risk, 2 = medium risk, 3 = low risk, 4 = negligible risk)
5. Consider workgroup experience and incident history and adjust type or individual machine risk rating

Step 2: Determining Initial Assessment Timing and Reassessment Periods

Deciding what needs to be assessed immediately and what can wait will be a function of the makeup of the fleet and the owner’s
perception of the risk of plant items. Based on experience with hundreds of plant hazard assessment plans, Plant Assessor
uses the following rules of thumb in making these decisions:

1. All plant should be assessed before commissioning – these timeframes relate to existing fleet that has not already been
2. High and medium risk plant should be individually assessed, as machines vary in design, specification and wear and tear.
   Type assessments are acceptable for low risk plant types.
   Care should be taken to make sure that all plant items in a type meet the same design.

The information contained in this article is designed to demystify the process of ensuring the objective of SAFE PLANT.

The achievement of this goal is something which requires focus, diligence and resources.

Disclaimer: This information is intended to provide general information on the subject matter.
This is not intended as legal or expert advice for your specific situation.
You should seek professional advice before acting or relying on the content of this information.

Download Safe Plant Guide