Composites Association of New Zealand Inc.
CODE OF PRACTICE
for Health and Safety in the Manufacture of Composites Based on Synthetic Resins (Fibreglass)
The code has been developed utilising the collective brains of the industry and every effort has been made to make this Code as comprehensive as possible. At the same time in-depth consideration was given, not only to proliferate safe composite working practices, but also to assist understanding of what is required to comply with the very numerous and complicated pieces of legislation, regulations, standards and codes that impact on composite manufacturers.
Another important consideration of developing a Code was to do our best to provide uniform and practical standards for use by OSH inspectors and to prevent uninformed inspectors from making unreasonable and often very expensive demands on our members. The Code also clarifies the interpretations of hazardous ratings within composite factories.
The Code contains major input from the Occupational Safety & Health Service and other experts fron fields relative to the Code content.
The General Manager of OSH commends our work and urges adopting of the Code by all those working in the composite industry.
The net result is a 64 page Code that is an important document for all those involved in the composites industry.
Members should be aware that compliance with the Code of Practice is not compulsory, but in the event of a prosecution under the Health & Safety Act, possibly following a serious accident, then compliance with the Code is admissible as evidence in a court of law that the employer was using good practice to protect the health and safety of employees.
The code of practice is currently being updated for the Worksafe regulations under the new Health and Safety at Work Act.