What law applies
In order to understand the workplace health and safety requirements for concrete pumping safety, and your obligations under the law you must consider and understand relevant relevant legislation and codes of practice.
General health and safety obligations
What you must do
Specific regulations for concrete pumping
Specific codes of practice for concrete pumping
General health and safety obligations
To understand your obligations and safety requirements you must be familiar with the:
- Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (PDF, 766 KB), which imposes obligations on people at workplaces to ensure workplace health and safety
- The Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008 describes what must be done to prevent or control certain hazards which cause injury, illness or death
- Codes of practice, which are designed to give practical advice about ways to manage exposure to risks common to industry.
Every Queensland employer must have workers' compensation insurance. Most employers insure with WorkCover Queensland, while a small number of large organisations have their own insurance. This insurance coverage ensures that employees injured at work receive financial support.
What you must do
It is a requirement of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 that risks must be assessed and control measures then implemented and reviewed to prevent or minimise exposure to the risks.
If the regulation describes how to prevent or minimise a risk at your workplace you must do what the regulation says. If there is a code of practice that describes how to prevent or minimise a risk at your workplace you must do what the code says or adopt and follow another way that gives the same level of protection against the risk.
If there is no regulation or code of practice about a risk at your workplace you must choose an appropriate way to manage exposure to the risk. People must, where there is no regulation or code of practice about a risk, take reasonable precautions and exercise proper diligence against the risk.
See the Risk Management Code of Practice 2007 for further information.
Specific regulations for concrete pumping
Under the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (PDF, 766 KB) , those responsible for concrete pumping must protect workers and the public from risks death, injury or illness caused by concrete pumping activities.
Legal responsibilities are covered in:
Part 3 of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (PDF, 766 KB)
People considered responsible for plant and equipment such as concrete pumping include:
- Employers, self-employed persons and/or business owners, principal contractors, owners of high risk plant and those in control of fixtures, fittings and plant such as concrete pumping and workers who operate concrete pumps; and
- Designers, manufacturers, suppliers and those who install or erect plant and equipment such as concrete pumps.
Under the Act, you must follow any regulation or code of practice which have been developed to help you meet your workplace health and safety obligations.
If there is a regulation about a risk, you must do what the regulation says.
Specific codes of practice for concrete pumping
Practical advice about reducing risks is provided by the:
The Concrete Pumping Code of Practice 2005 explains how you can meet your obligations under the Act. However you may adopt another way if you think it is more suited to your business or work activity. If you adopt another way, it must give the same level of protection against risk as if you followed the Code.
It is very important to reduce the risks of injury when pumping concrete.
The Code has identified factors which need to be considered with care by employers, contractors and workers when concrete is pumped.
The Code also provides good advice about what to do in situations and the best way of avoiding problems.
Practical advice is provided in the Risk Management Code of Practice 2007 about how to develop ways of controlling the hazards of concrete pumping.
Section 3 of the Concrete Pumping Code of Practice 2005 looks at the important steps of planning and preparing the site before concrete pumping begins; and then outlines the particular risks from:
- plant and equipment – such as concrete placement booms, pipelines, delivery hose, gauges, clamps, brackets, pipe movements, receiving hopper and other parts
- the placement of concrete pumping plant and equipment close to traffic, members of the public, powerlines, trenches and ground stability
- major tasks such as concrete delivery line cleaning, pump and boom operation, concrete pouring, pump cleaning and road travel
- by-products of concrete pumping including fumes and noise
Check the dictionary of terms in Appendix 1 of the Concrete Pumping Code of Practice 2005.
To find out about and carry out your legal obligations, you must refer to the full text of the Concrete Pumping Code of Practice 2005.
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