National housing falls code declared

On 29 April 2010, the Safe Work Australia (SWA) members agreed by majority to declare the National Code of Practice for the Prevention of Falls in Housing Construction (‘the Code’).

HIA opposed the declaration of the Code on the basis that it still retained the mandatory 2 metre height threshold for physical fall protection and that its release was premature as the National Model Work Health and Safety Regulations were not yet complete.

The Code will be made available on the SWA website and will provide guidance to those working in the housing sector until the work health and safety legislative framework is implemented in 2012.

The Code contains a 2 metre height threshold for physical fall protection.  This means that once the Code is adopted by the states and territories, many housing construction tasks, including single storey roof installation and upper floor construction, are likely to require perimeter fall protection, such as guardrails or equivalent, for compliance

Over the last 5 years HIA has lobbied extensively at the Federal and State level to ensure that the Code contains practical safety solutions for the housing construction industry. Despite the inclusion of the mandatory 2 metre height threshold (of which HIA oppose) due to HIA's involvement in the development process it has improved significantly from its original draft.

As guidance material it will provide greater certainty and provide working examples of how to comply with falls from height regulations across the country.

It is expected that the majority of states and territories will implement this code to some extent within the next 6 months, however at this early stage there has been no formal attempt by any of them to commence an adoption process.   HIA is now liaising with individual State Governments to ensure that the implementation of the Code does not impose any unnecessary burden on the industry  

HIA will provide information to members in those states that decide to implement the Code. In the meantime, HIA advises members to familiarise themselves with the provisions of the Code so that they can start to include any necessary contingencies into future building contracts and OHS management systems.  The Code will be made available soon on the Safe Work Australia website http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au