This consultation provided an opportunity for PCBUs, compliance certifiers and others to provide feedback on proposed minor changes to the Health and Safety at Work (Hazardous Substances-Certified Handler of Class 6 Substances Compliance Certification) Performance Standard 2019, which came into force on 1 May 2019.

Deadline for submissions

The deadline for submissions was 5pm on 14 December 2022.

About the proposed changes

The proposed changes cover:

• Amending the definition of agrichemical in Clause 4 (Interpretation).
• Amending the evidence required to verify the full legal name of the applicant by providing for the use of a marriage certificate in Clause 5(1)(a) (Evidence required to demonstrate competency).
• Amending Clause 12 (Scope of certification) to require, for a class 6.1A substance, the chemical name for the active ingredient used as the agrichemical to be recorded on a certified handler compliance certificate.
• Amending Clause 12 (Scope of certification) to provide for the description ‘acutely toxic substances’ to be recorded on a certified handler compliance certificate where the substances are stored or used at a bulk commercial storage or transit depot and the applicant is seeking certification for the life-cycle phase storage and/or transport only.
• Amending Clause 12 (Scope of certification) to provide for the description ‘acutely toxic substances’ to be recorded on a certified handler compliance certificate where the substances are stored or used at a dedicated waste disposal site and the applicant is seeking certification for the life-cycle phase storage and/or disposal only.
• Amending the provision for dates to be recorded on a certified handler compliance certificate as specified in Clause 13(2) (Other information to be recorded) to enable the date of expiry of the certificate to be 5 years from the date the certificate comes into force.
• Amending Schedules 1, 2, 3 and 4 to incorporate require additional competency assessment when agrichemicals, fumigants, vertebrate toxic agents and other class 6 hazardous substances are being manufactured.

Use of information

We will use the information provided in submissions to inform the nature of the changes made to the Class 6 Performance Standard. We may contact you if we require clarification on any matters you raised.

Release of information

Release of submissions is subject to the Official Information Act 1982.

We asked you to tell us as part of your submission if you have any objection to the release of any information in the submission, which parts you consider should be withheld, and include your reasons for withholding the information (for example, commercially sensitive material). We will consider any objections you noted and consult with you when responding to requests under the Official Information Act 1982.

Private information

The Privacy Act 2020 establishes certain principles with respect to the collection, use and disclosure of information about individuals by various agencies, including WorkSafe. Any personal information you supply to WorkSafe in the course of making a submission will be used in the collation of feedback to inform the changes made to the Class 6 Performance Standard.

We asked that you clearly indicate in your submission if you do not wish your name to be included in any summary of submissions that we may publish.