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The latest (14th) version of Victoria’s 2017 OHS Regulations landed in July 2023. Among other things they specify how to perform a duty that’s carried by an organisation or a person.
At almost 600 pages in length, the Regulations are a serious body of work and they set out a serious suite of expectations.
Chapter 5 of the Regs establishes the expectations for three particular hazardous industries: construction, major hazard facilities (more commonly called MHFs) such as the gas plants operating close to Port Campbell, and mines.
At GreenCon – as we think you would expect – our focus rests with what the Regs direct us to do as a construction company, within the construction industry.
One of those things is being crystal clear about who is in control of a construction worksite, which is something we feel most people would think would be easy enough to see. After all… surely those who would be deemed to be ‘in control’ of a site are those who are performing the construction work, right?
Not necessarily.
On a Victorian construction project* worth $350,000 or more, the person or entity who is considered to be in control is called the principal contractor.
(But you’d presume it is simple enough to work out who the principal contractor of a construction project is. Surely it is the main entity who is performing the construction work… right?)
Not necessarily.
In Victoria the site owner is deemed, by default, to be the principal contractor unless they have specifically appointed another person or entity to manage or control the workplace. (Which then means that person or entity is the principal contractor.)
Clear as mud, eh?
At GreenCon, we recognise this is a nuanced element of construction – and that there are instances where working out who a project’s principal contractor is, can sometimes be anything BUT clear. So, to help prospective clients we have a governance document that provides, among other things, a basic flow-chart to guide the decisions they need to make to clarify who their project’s principal will be.
And if that process settles on appointing GreenCon as their principal, we use a simple 1-page pro-forma to formalise that outcome. That means that everyone with skin in the game – clients, ourselves as a construction company and the Victorian OHS regulator, WorkSafe – are crystal clear about who is in control of the work site.
Not only does that form a critical aspect of demonstrating due diligence it makes it crystal clear about who is responsible for discharging the responsibilities of the principal, such as crafting and managing the site’s safety and health program.
*This applies to construction in the commercial, industrial and agricultural sectors. For residential construction the builder is the principal contractor.
Posted 8 December 2023. All rights retained by GreenCon Australia Pty Ltd. For more information about the subject matter this News post refers to, make contact with GreenCon c/- info@greencon.com.au or +61 3 5595 1078
