What law applies
In order to understand the workplace health and safety requirements for tractor safety, and your obligations under the law you must consider and understand relevant legislation and codes of practice.
General health and safety obligations
What you must do
Safe design and operation of tractors
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.
Safe design and operation of tractors
Under the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (PDF, 766 KB), those responsible for plant and equipment such as tractors must protect workers and the public from death, injury or illness caused or created by the design or operation of plant and equipment such as tractors.
Practical advice about reducing risks is provided in:
- Section 1 of the Safe Design and Operation of Tractors Code of Practice 2005; and
- the Plant Code of Practice 2005.
People considered responsible for plant and equipment such as tractors include:
- Employers, self-employed persons and/or business owners, principle contractors and those in control of fixtures, fittings and plant and equipment such as tractors and workers who operate tractors; and
- Designers, manufactures, suppliers and those who install or erect plant and equipment such as tractors.
Under the Act, you must follow any regulations that apply to the management of risk. Code of practice are advisory standards developed to help you meet your workplace health and safety obligations.
The Safe Design and Operation of Tractors 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 as if you followed the code.
The code provides good advice about what to do in situations and the best way of avoiding problems.
Practical advice is also provided in the Risk Management Code of Practice 2007 about how to develop ways of controlling the hazards of operating tractors.
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