Responsibilities for dangerous goods
Under Division 2 of the Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act 2001 (PDF, 629 KB) and Part 2 of the Dangerous Goods Safety Management Regulation 2001 (PDF, 658 KB) everyone involved with dangerous goods at workplaces has obligations for workplace health and safety.
Manufacturers, importers and suppliers
Occupiers (employers, or other persons, who have overall management of the facility or work place)
Employees (and other persons)
Key stakeholder agencies
Manufacturers, importers and suppliers
Under Part 2 of the Dangerous Goods Safety Management Regulation 2001 (PDF, 658 KB) manufacturers, importers and suppliers of dangerous goods must:
- ensure that all such goods are safe for storage and handling;
- provide information regarding safe storage and handling with the dangerous goods, as well as Material Safety Data Sheets for each type of goods supplied;
- provide a label on all containers containing information on the UN number (a unique substance identifier), class subsidiary risk and packing group to which the goods belong.
Occupiers
Under Part 3 of the Dangerous Goods Safety Management Regulation 2001 (PDF, 658 KB) occupiers (employers, or other persons, who have overall management of the facility or workplace) have requirements for the prevention or control certain hazards at workplaces including:
- Dangerous goods locations and large dangerous goods locations
- Major hazard facilities
- Minor storage workplaces.
Ways to prevent or control hazards include:
- Identification of hazards, use of placards
- Maintaining manifests and registers
- Conducting risk assessments
- Training
- Personal protective equipment
- Protecting visitors
- Workplace security
- Planning for emergencies.
Employees (and other persons)
Under Division 2 of the Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act 2001 (PDF, 629 KB) employees or other persons must:
- comply with safety procedures
- comply with safety instructions
- report to supervisors any safety issues
- act to ensure no-one is exposed to an unacceptable level of risk.
Key stakeholder agencies
There are also key stakeholder agencies that have responsibilities to help regulate the storage, handling and transportation of dangerous goods, licence certain activities, and deal with emergencies.
