Standards
These are all strictly adhered to by SHA in terms of our duty of care to our technicians but also our clients and the general public
AS/NZS 4488.1&2 & AS/NZS 1891.4
The relevant Australian/New Zealand standards that apply are:
– AS/NZ1891.4:2009 – Industrial fall-arrest systems and devices Part 4: Selection, use and maintenance
– AS/NZS 4488: 1 + 2 1997 – Industrial rope access systems.
This is the standard to which SHA complies in its work. The objective of the Standard is to provide the industrial rope access industry and regulatory authorities with a set of performance standards against which the safety and adequacy of hardware and techniques used in which industrial rope access systems can be assessed.
SHA also notes other internationally-accepted standards as EN certification (European Committee for Standardization), NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) and ANSI (American National Standards Institute
WHS Act 2011
The main object of this Act is to provide for a balanced and nationally consistent framework to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces by:
(a) Protecting workers and other persons against harm to their health, safety and welfare through the elimination or minimisation of risks arising from work or from specified types of substances or plant, and
(b) Providing for fair and effective workplace representation, consultation, co-operation and issue resolution in relation to work health and safety, and
(c) Encouraging unions and employer organisations to take a constructive role in promoting improvements in work health and safety practices, and assisting persons conducting businesses or undertakings and workers to achieve a healthier and safer working environment, and
(d) Promoting the provision of advice, information, education and training in relation to work health and safety, and
(e) Securing compliance with this Act through effective and appropriate compliance and enforcement measures, and
(f) Ensuring appropriate scrutiny and review of actions taken by persons exercising powers and performing functions under this Act, and
(g) Providing a framework for continuous improvement and progressively higher standards of work health and safety, and
(h) Maintaining and strengthening the national harmonisation of laws relating to work health and safety and to facilitate a consistent national approach to work health and safety in this jurisdiction.
And made under the WHS Act 2011 is WHS Regulation 2011, which is in place to:
(i) protect the safety of workers, improve safety outcomes, reduce compliance costs for business and improve efficiency for health and safety regulators.
