In Australia, "plant" means almost any machinery, equipment, appliance or tool — an excavator or a forklift, a bench saw, a concrete pump, an air compressor, a conveyor, a power drill. A plant risk assessment looks at one of those items in the job it is about to do and asks what could hurt someone, how badly, and what keeps that from happening. This template walks you round the machine in a sensible order: what it is and who owns it, whether it is registrable, whether it suits the task, who will operate it and what licence they hold, then a screen of every hazard type, a register that rates each hazard before and after controls, a hard look at the guards and the emergency stop, the maintenance records, and the rescue plan. It ends with a plain fit-to-use decision. Fill it in here and download a PDF without creating an account.
Why plant gets its own assessment
Under the model Work Health and Safety Regulations used in most states and territories, a person conducting a business or undertaking must manage the risks of plant, and Safe Work Australia's code of practice on managing the risks of plant in the workplace explains how. Victoria has its own OHS Act and regulations with a similar duty. A general site risk assessment rarely gets into the detail a machine needs — which shaft is unguarded, whether the interlock works, who has the ticket.
This form records the assessment you made of one item, on one date, for one use. It does not make anyone compliant with WHS or OHS law on its own, and it does not replace the designer's, manufacturer's or supplier's information about the plant, which you should read first and attach.
Screen first, then register
Machines hurt people in a fairly short list of ways: they catch and pull in, crush, shear, cut, throw things, shock, release stored pressure, catch fire, fill a space with fumes, deafen, shake, burn, and make people reach, twist or climb. The screen asks about each one in turn so none gets skipped. Every hazard type you mark as present should then have at least one entry in the register.
Each register entry says where on the machine or in the job the hazard sits, how someone could get hurt, and who. It is rated with the controls that are already there, then the further controls are listed — working down the hierarchy from removing the hazard, to substituting, to isolating and engineering it out, to procedures and training, with personal protective equipment last — and it is rated again. A High or Extreme rating left after controls is flagged at the top of the report.
Guarding, the emergency stop and isolation
Most serious plant injuries come back to three things: a guard that was missing, removed or bypassed; a stop that could not be reached or did not work; and a machine that started while someone had their hands in it. The guarding section asks about each of them directly, including whether the stop needs resetting before restart and whether there is a lockable isolation point for cleaning and maintenance. Mobile plant opens extra questions on rollover and falling-object protection, seatbelts, reversing alarms, visibility and exclusion zones.
On the phone, speak while you walk, and the document writes itself: walk round the machine, name each hazard as you point the camera at it, and the register fills in.
Licences, registration and records
Some plant needs a high risk work licence to operate, such as forklifts, many cranes and some elevating work platforms, and some plant — boilers, pressure vessels, tower cranes and lifts among them — has to have its design or the item itself registered with the state or territory regulator. The form records the licence class and number and, for registrable plant, the registration numbers and renewal date, and asks whether you actually sighted them. Check the current lists with your regulator; they are not reproduced here.
The maintenance section checks the pre-start routine, the service logbook, outstanding defects and the tag-out system. A machine that was safe on delivery does not stay that way without them.
Common questions
What counts as plant in Australia?
Broadly, any machinery, equipment, appliance, container, implement or tool, and any part of one. That covers heavy earthmoving and lifting plant, fixed workshop machinery, pressure equipment, conveyors and powered hand tools. The WHS laws exclude a few things, so check the definition in your state or territory if in doubt.
When should a plant risk assessment be done?
Before the plant is first used, and again when anything changes — a new task, a new location, a modification, a repair, a new operator group — or after an incident or near miss involving it. Hired plant should be assessed when it arrives, not just when it was ordered.
Who is responsible for plant safety?
Designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers have duties to provide safe plant and information about it. Whoever manages or controls the plant at a workplace must manage the risks of using it, which is where this assessment sits. Workers must follow the controls and report faults.
Is this a SWMS?
No. A safe work method statement describes how high risk construction work will be done safely. A plant risk assessment looks at one machine. Plant used on a construction site often needs both, and the controls from this form should carry into the SWMS.
Does this form cover registrable plant?
It records whether the item is registrable and its design and item registration details, and asks whether the documents were sighted. It does not check whether the registration is valid with the regulator; do that directly.
Can I use it outside Australia?
Yes, the method works anywhere, and "plant" is used the same way in the UK and New Zealand. The licence and registration questions are Australian; answer N/A where they do not apply and name your own regime in the notes.