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EQUIPMENT (PUBLIC SAFETY) BILL
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31 March 1994
Second Reading
PESCOTT
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EQUIPMENT (PUBLIC SAFETY) BILL Second reading Mr PESCOTT (Minister for Industry Services) -- I move: That this bill be now read a second time. A brief history of the lead-up to this bill is necessary to put the legislation in context. When the Occupational Health and Safety Act was drafted there was a clear intention that the act would replace all the equipment safety legislation in place at the time -- that is, the Occupational Health and Safety Act would take the place of the Lifts and Cranes Act, Boilers and Pressure Vessels Act and Scaffolding Act. Powers to revoke those acts were included in the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Over time it has been found that the Occupational Health and Safety Act does not provide for public safety as comprehensively as does the earlier legislation. The Occupational Health and Safety Act, by definition, is an act primarily concerned with workplaces and has only one provision that refers to safety requirements for people other than employees. That is section 22, which refers to an employer's obligations to take care for the safety of non-employees as a result of the activities of the employer's undertaking. The older equipment safety legislation on the other hand, places requirements on proprietors of equipment irrespective of the location of the equipment; it is of no concern to that legislation whether the equipment is used in a factory or at a school working bee. The government wants to rationalise the number of pieces of legislation covering equipment safety and ensure that the legislation is appropriate to the need for statutory control.
Page 780
The earlier equipment safety legislation does not allow for that. These acts, for the most part, are drafted in the older, prescriptive, inflexible language which does not suit a modern implementation and enforcement approach. Because the Occupational Health and Safety Act made allowance for 'staged' or progressive repeal of the older legislation much time and effort has been spent on various ways in which that legislation could be 'eased' out of operation. In the final analysis it was concluded that a clean break had to be made to avoid a host of problems that could arise from having parts of legislation being used to address some problems and the Occupational Health and Safety Act dealing with the remainder. In addition, there was the glaring contrast in penalty levels for non-compliance between the old equipment safety legislation and the Occupational Health and Safety Act. In 1991 Parliament partially dealt with a bill, also called the Equipment (Public Safety) Bill. The current Equipment (Public Safety) Bill is essentially the same as its 1991 predecessor with one significant difference. That difference is that there is no provision for the continuation of the scaffolding permit system in the bill before the house. The 1991 bill contained some consequential amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act which gave municipalities the power to appoint occupational health and safety inspectors with limited power to regulate the scaffolding permit system within their municipality. It is generally recognised however, that the permit system is anachronistic and inefficient and consequently the decision has been made to abolish the scaffolding system in Victoria. That means the consequential amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act are no longer needed. The bill's primary function is to provide a clear, modern statutory control over the use of potentially dangerous equipment used in the public domain. In doing that an opportunity arises to rationalise the regulatory controls over equipment generally and so produce a better environment for business in Victoria. I commend the bill to the house. Debate adjourned on motion of Mr MICALLEF (Springvale). Debate adjourned until Thursday, 14 April.