| From: |
SP52948 owner |
| To: |
Peter Bone BCS Strata Management |
| CC: |
Paul Banoob Pica Group |
| Subject: |
REQUEST FOR AGM 2012: SP52948 Report Current Status of Building and Fire Safety |
| Date: |
6/9/13, 8:55 pm |
Hello,
Request for the action by the AGM 2013:
1. Last year, Napier & Blakeley's building and asbestos report
was completed in July 2012.
In line with the Work Health Safety (WHS) Laws that commenced on 1
January 2012 and are accompanied by the Model Work Health and
Safety Regulations (MWHSR), the Strata Manager and the EC are to
report what actions were completed and which ones are still
outstanding since July 2012 (more than a year ago).
2. Due to delays in acting upon the fire safety reports by Eagle
Fire Protection in January and July 2013 (see the attachment), it
is requested to report on the status of completed and outstanding
issues that these fire safety reports contained. In addition, it is
very strange that two versions of the comments about fire safety
are reported in two different versions of the minutes of the EC
meeting held on 28 August 2013.
This report must be provided by a professional body and not based
on personal views by unlicensed and unauthorized staff.
3. Motion for the AGM 2013 for conducting OH&S Risk Assessment
before the general meetings each year to ensure a safe working
environment is strongly recommended for all owners' and workers
sake.
Explanation for owners who are not familiar with the laws:
The MWHSR is supported by a number of model Codes of Practice which
were agreed to by all Ministers in December 2009.
By new WHS laws, any place where a worker is working is a workplace
and hence the WHS applies to us (through so-called "Persons
Conducting Business or Undertaking" (PCBU) definition).
In plain English, to understand what the legislation describes as a
PCBU, it is easiest to look at what activities are likely to happen
within strata scheme which are possibly meeting the definition of a
PCBU:
- Directly employed workers like cleaners
- A strata, community, body corporate manager
- A caretaker or onsite manager
- An executive committee
- Volunteers doing work in the common property area
- Businesses using common property
- Contractors doing permanent (not ad-hoc) work
To comply with the new legislation each building need to regularly
identify and assess hazards and risks and ensure the following are
up to date for each building:
1. Fire and Evacuation/Emergency Management Plan
2. Asbestos Management Plan
3. Contractors’ Safe Work Method Statements
4. Contractors’ Site Facilities Schedule
Hazards and risks which may apply to the Committee can include
pools, storage of hazardous material, slips, trips and falls. This
will require bodies corporate to keep registers, discuss issues
with tradespersons, have adequate training for risks and have
adequate documents displayed advising of risks.
Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, the maximum fines for
non-compliance are severe and exhaustive. There are certain
penalties that range up to $3 million for a body corporate found
guilty, $600,000 for individuals such as committee members/owners
or in some instances jail terms.
Whilst these are the maximum fines under the proposed laws the non
compliance by bodies corporate of even the simplest issue may
result in fines and/or claims against it.