The Victorian Government have passed 35 amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007. The amendments take effect from 1 July 2014.

The majority of the changes to the regulations have been aimed at reducing red tape by reducing administrative requirements. For example, the employer duty to ensure that Material Safety Data Sheets are updated no less than every five years has been removed from the regulations.

A significant change to the construction chapter of the regulations is that OHS Coordination Plans will be required for any projects with a permit value greater than $350,000 (previously $250,000).

A further amendment to the construction chapter is that employers will no longer be required to maintain a record of workers construction induction training details. It still remains an offence for an employer to allow a person to perform construction work unless the person has been put through construction induction training, or at least registered. Master Builders strongly recommends that members should continue to verify workers’ red/white card details prior to allowing them to commence work on site.

Details of all of the amendments can be found here.

For more information, contact the OHS Department on (03) 9411 4569.