ohs-regulation-checker-vic

Victorian OHS Regulations 2017 — Complete Reference

Purpose

This skill provides the complete verified text of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic), extracted directly from the official Victorian legislation (current as at 26 November 2024). It ensures Claude cites accurate regulation numbers, provisions, and requirements when producing occupational health and safety reports, compliance analyses, and OHS documentation for Victorian jurisdictions.

Critical Rules

1. Only cite provisions that appear in the chapter files. Never fabricate or assume regulation numbers or content.
2. Citation format: Use "r [number]" for individual regulations, e.g. "r 41 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic)" or "rr 50–77" for a range.
3. Use conservative, factual language when describing regulatory obligations. Avoid subjective terms like "significant risk" or "deterioration" — describe what the regulation requires in objective terms.
4. Always use Australian English spelling (e.g. behaviour, organisation, colour, defence, licence [noun]).
5. If a provision cannot be located in these files, state that the specific regulation should be verified against the current legislation and indicate which chapter it is likely found in.
6. Standards references: Only cite Australian Standards that are explicitly referenced in the Regulation text. Do not assume or add standards from general knowledge.
7. Victorian terminology: Regulations use 'employer' instead of 'PCBU', 'employee' instead of 'worker', 'construction excavation' and 'site-specific safety and health planning' instead of 'WHS management plan'.

Chapter Index

Read the relevant chapter file(s) based on the regulatory domain of the query:

File	Chapter	Key Regulations	When to Read
chapters/ch01-preliminary.md	Ch 1 — Preliminary	rr 1–16	Definitions, objectives, application, incorporated documents, regulatory requirements framework
chapters/ch02-general-duties.md	Ch 2 — General duties and issue resolution	rr 18–25	Installation/maintenance of risk controls, health monitoring, consultation, issue resolution procedures
chapters/ch03a-manual-handling-noise.md	Ch 3 — Physical hazards — Part 3.1–3.2	rr 26–40	Hazardous manual handling (rr 26–28), noise exposure (rr 29–40), hearing protection, audiometric testing
chapters/ch03b-falls.md	Ch 3 — Physical hazards — Part 3.3	rr 41–49	Fall hazard identification, control measures, ladder use, emergency procedures
chapters/ch03c-confined-spaces.md	Ch 3 — Physical hazards — Part 3.4	rr 50–77	Confined space hazards, entry permits, atmosphere testing, rescue procedures, training
chapters/ch03d-plant.md	Ch 3 — Physical hazards — Part 3.5	rr 78–127	Plant hazard identification, design duties, guarding, operator controls, emergency stop devices, inspection, maintenance, plant registration
chapters/ch03e-high-risk-work.md	Ch 3 — Physical hazards — Part 3.6	rr 128–139	High risk work licensing, training, competency assessment, assessor authorisation
chapters/ch04a-hazardous-substances.md	Ch 4 — Hazardous substances — Part 4.1	rr 140–171	Hazardous substance identification, SDS, labelling, exposure monitoring, health monitoring, registers
chapters/ch04b-carcinogens-lead.md	Ch 4 — Hazardous substances — Parts 4.2–4.3	rr 172–205	Carcinogenic substances (rr 172–176), lead exposure limits (rr 177–205), biological monitoring, medical removal
chapters/ch04c-asbestos.md	Ch 4 — Hazardous substances — Part 4.4	rr 206–244	Asbestos exposure control, contaminated workplaces, removal prohibitions, management duties
chapters/ch04d-crystalline-silica.md	Ch 4 — Hazardous substances — Part 4.5	rr 245–260	Crystalline silica exposure monitoring, engineered stone processes, exposure limits
chapters/ch05a-construction.md	Ch 5 — Hazardous industries — Part 5.1	rr 261–373	Construction hazards, site-specific planning, SWMS requirements (rr 276–300), fall protection, machinery safety, inductions, excavation notices
chapters/ch05b-major-hazard.md	Ch 5 — Hazardous industries — Part 5.2	rr 374–452	Major hazard facility management, safety cases, emergency response plans, competency requirements
chapters/ch05c-mines.md	Ch 5 — Hazardous industries — Part 5.3	rr 453–596	Mine management, hazard control, incident reporting, underground entry, competency, emergency planning
chapters/ch06-licensing.md	Ch 6 — Licensing and registration	rr 597–650	Licence administration (applications, competency, renewal, suspension, cancellation)
chapters/ch07-admin.md	Ch 7 — Administrative matters and enforcement	rr 651–699	Notices, review of decisions, enforcement, incident reporting, WorkSafe Commissioner functions
chapters/schedules.md	Schedules	Schedule 1–16	Licence types, competency standards, GHS concentration limits, major incident facility hazard criteria

Workflow

1. Identify the regulatory domain from the user's query
2. Read the relevant chapter file(s) using the view tool — read only what is needed, not all files
3. Cite provisions accurately from the extracted text
4. Cross-reference between chapters where appropriate (e.g. Ch 2 risk management process applies alongside Ch 3 hazard-specific requirements)
5. Flag any gaps — if the query requires provisions from the OHS Act 2004 (not covered in this skill) or from Codes of Practice, note this clearly

Common Query Routing

Query Topic	Primary Chapter(s)	Key Regulations
Noise assessment / hearing protection	Ch 3 (Part 3.2) + Ch 2	rr 29–40, rr 18–22
Dust / crystalline silica survey	Ch 4 (Part 4.5) + Ch 2	rr 245–260, rr 18–22
Hazardous chemical exposure monitoring	Ch 4 (Part 4.1) + Ch 2	rr 140–171, rr 18–22
Asbestos identification / removal	Ch 4 (Part 4.4)	rr 206–244
Confined space entry	Ch 3 (Part 3.4) + Ch 2	rr 50–77, rr 18–22
Fall prevention	Ch 3 (Part 3.3)	rr 41–49
Construction site SWMS	Ch 5 (Part 5.1) + Ch 2	rr 261–373 (esp. rr 276–300), rr 18–22
High risk work licensing	Ch 3 (Part 3.6)	rr 128–139
PPE requirements	Ch 2 + relevant chapters	rr 18–25 (general), plus chapter-specific PPE provisions
Plant safety	Ch 3 (Part 3.5)	rr 78–127
Health monitoring obligations	Ch 2 + Ch 4	rr 19–20, Ch 4 specific provisions
Workplace facilities	Ch 2	rr 18–25
Major hazard facility	Ch 5 (Part 5.2)	rr 374–452

Regulation Number Cross-Reference: VIC vs Harmonised Model

The following table maps common topics between Victoria's OHS Regulations 2017 and the harmonised Work Health and Safety regulations used in Queensland, NSW, and Tasmania. Use this when adapting harmonised guidance or comparing state-specific requirements.

Topic	Harmonised (QLD/NSW/TAS)	Victoria (OHS Regs 2017)
Construction Work Framework
Construction work definition	r 289	r 321
High risk construction work	r 291	r 322
SWMS definition	—	r 324
SWMS content requirements	r 299	r 324 + r 327
SWMS compliance	r 300	r 327
SWMS copy to be kept	r 301	r 329
SWMS review	r 302	r 328
Falls Prevention
Falls prevention (general)	rr 78–80	rr 41–49
Fall prevention measures	r 79	r 42
Fall protection inspection	r 80	r 43
Confined Spaces
Confined space entry	rr 62–78	rr 50–77
Entry procedures	r 65	r 54
Atmosphere testing	r 67	r 56
Rescue procedures	r 72	r 61
Noise and Hearing
Noise exposure standards	rr 57–59	rr 29–40
Noise assessment	r 57	r 29
Hearing protection	r 58	r 35
Audiometric testing	r 59	r 36–40
Hazardous Manual Tasks
Manual task risk assessment	rr 60–61	rr 26–28
Hazardous Chemicals
Hazardous chemicals general	rr 330–392	rr 140–171
Workplace exposure standards	rr 330–347	rr 140–150
SDS and labelling	rr 350–369	rr 153–165
Health monitoring	rr 370–384	rr 166–171
Asbestos
Asbestos identification	Chapter 8	rr 206–215
Asbestos management	Chapter 8	rr 216–230
Asbestos removal	Chapter 8	rr 231–244
Crystalline Silica
Crystalline silica exposure	Chapter 8A (rr 384A–384Z)	Part 4.5 (rr 245–260)
Exposure monitoring	r 384K	r 251
Health monitoring	r 384S–384V	r 253
Plant Safety
Plant safety general	Chapter 5	Part 3.5 (rr 78–127)
Plant design duties	rr 179–181	rr 80–85
Plant guarding	rr 190–198	rr 102–110
Plant inspection/maintenance	rr 203–205	rr 120–123
High Risk Work Licensing
High risk work scope	rr 81–135	Part 3.6 (rr 128–139)
Licence competency requirements	r 208	r 133
Training and assessment	r 209	r 134
Personal Protective Equipment
PPE selection and use	rr 44–46	rr 18–25 (general context) + chapter-specific provisions

Note: This cross-reference is approximate. VIC regulation numbers should be verified against the extracted chapter files before use. Some topics do not have direct equivalents between the models.

Version Information

• OHS Regulations 2017 (Vic): S.R. No. 22/2017, incorporating amendments as at 26 November 2024
• Source: Victorian Legislation website, authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel's Office
• Extraction method: Full text extracted from official Word document, with formatting and section structure preserved

Note: This skill covers the OHS Regulations 2017 (Vic) only. For the OHS Act 2004 (Vic) — including employer duty of care (s 20), notification requirements (ss 37–39), and workplace manslaughter (ss 39A–39G) — consult the companion ohs-act-checker-vic skill. Legislation is subject to amendment; for critical compliance decisions, verify current provisions at https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/