Plant and Equipment

Plant includes any machinery, equipment, appliance, implement or tool or fitting thereof or accessory thereto. It also includes and experimental or research apparatus designed, manufactured or supplied to staff and students by other staff and students or by a third party.

All staff and students should be familiar with and must abide by the Plant and Equipment Procedure.

In particular these strictures must be observed:

• Prior to purchase, all plant must be assessed using the OHS Purchasing Guideline

• An item of plant should not be used until a hazard identification and risk assessment have been carried out, and a risk control procedure is in place

• Prior to using any plant or equipment, users must have received adequate training

• SWP’s and emergency procedures must be displayed as close as possible to each item of plant

• Plant must be maintained, checked, tested and inspected regularly, as per the manufacturer’s instructions

• Decommissioning of plant must be done in accordance with OHS principles (for example, removal of power plugs, removal of chemical or waste residues). See also Laboratory Decommissioning/Project Cessation Procedure

• A Plant and Equipment Register (OHS088) must be established and maintained by the supervisor for each laboratory or workplace, and should be updated at least annually. A list of trained and competent users must be displayed with the item of plant.

The person responsible for the plant should ensure that it is used only for the purpose for which it was designed, unless a competent person has determined that the change in use does not constitute an HS risk.

Details of the safe disposal of plant and equipment should be kept.