Update on codes of practice for the construction industry

Codes of practice provide practical guidance for people with work health and safety duties about how to achieve the standards required under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (PDF, 1.42 MB), and about effective ways to identify and manage risks.

As part of the process for national harmonisation, Safe Work Australia has led the development of model codes of practice. Once approved at the national level, the model codes of practice must be approved in each jurisdiction before they are passed into law.

On 1 January 2012, a number of codes of practice commenced in Queensland to provide information and guidance in support of the new legislation. The Workplace Health and Safety Queensland website lists all of the current codes of practice in Queensland.

12 Draft codes of practice awaiting endorsement

The following 12 model codes of practice have been endorsed by Safe Work Australia members and are ready for endorsement by the Ministerial Council:

First aid in the workplace
Construction work
Preventing falls in housing construction
Managing electrical risks at the workplace
Managing risks of hazardous chemicals
Managing risks of plant in the workplace
Safe design of structures
Excavation work
Demolition work
Spray painting and powder coating
Abrasive blasting
Welding processes.

The Queensland Government will be consulting key stakeholder groups on these codes of practice prior to any decision on implementation in Queensland.

Draft codes of practice still under development

The following codes of practice are currently being revised based on public feedback and may be finalised in the second half of the year:

Preventing and managing fatigue in the workplace
Responding to workplace bullying
Safe design, manufacture, import and supply of plant
Working in the vicinity of overhead and underground electrical lines
Traffic management in workplaces
Scaffolding work
Formwork and falsework.

Open for public comment

The following model codes of practice and guides are open for public comment until 24 August 2012:

Managing risks in forestry operations
Industrial lift trucks
Cranes
Amusement devices
Managing risks of plant used in rural workplaces
Managing security risks in the cash-in-transit industry
Guide for managing risks in cable logging, developed to support the draft Code for forestry operations
Guide for tunnelling.

Further information

To submit a comment on these draft model work health and safety codes of practice, visit the Safe Work Australia website (non-Queensland Government link).