Does Imported Safety Equipment Comply to the Australian Standard?

As an importer, reseller and agent for a wide range of foreign and locally made height safety, rope access and rescue equipment we are often asked to explain how overseas manufactured equipment which does not bear Australian Standards testing endorsement or compliance sits from a legal and legislative perspective.  The following is a précis designed to address these concerns. Firstly, an executive summary of the main points:

• It is entirely legal to supply and use height safety, rope access, rescue and climbing equipment made overseas here in Australia, so long as the equipment is manufactured by a company which has tested and endorsed the equipment against an ISO member organisation standard or standards (such as ANSI, BSI, CEN etc).  These International Standards must be accepted at face value.
• To prohibit the sale or use of said items here in Australia would be a ‘technical barrier’ to free trade and in fact a breach of Australia’s signatory member status under the WTO Free Trade Agreement Code of Practice.
• Australian Standards are voluntary and carry no legal weight unless they are written into legislation (such as the OHS Regulation 2001).  Neither AS 1891 nor AS 4488 are written into legislation.

The Role of Australian Standards

The first thing to be aware of is the role of Australian Standards and indeed the company which produces them; Standards Australia.  Many people and organisations are often very confused about the role of Australian Standards and perceive them to be legally binding entities produced by a Government body; this is not the case.  “Standards Australia is an independent company, limited by guarantee, which prepares and publishes most of the voluntary technical and commercial standards used in Australia”. (AS/NZS 1891.1-2007).

The general legality of a given Standard is given in the following:
“Australian Standards that are referred to in legislation such as the OHS Regulation 2001 have legal status and are mandatory. The Code of Practice Technical Guidance incorporates without modification a number of Australian Standards. Standards adopted in this way have the same legal status as a Code of Practice. Australian Standards which are not included in legislation may be adopted voluntarily but have no legal status”. (Work Cover NSW Safe Working at Heights Guide 2006 pp. 4).

There are only a handful of Standards referred to in legislation but notably these do not include Standards such as AS 1891, AS 4488, AS 4142.3 or AS 1801.

Further to this if we examine the role of Standards Australia and it’s relation to International Standards we identify the following:
“Standards Australia has a policy of adopting International Standards wherever possible. This policy is in line with Australia’s obligations under the World Trade Organization’s Code of Practice, which requires the elimination of technical Standards as barriers to international trade”. (www.standards.org.au/cat.asp?catid=10).

All major Standards organisations the world over are ISO members. Wherever possible it is a requirement of all global Standards organisations to default to the ISO Standard where one exists.  For example an ISO Standard for Industrial Rope Access is in draft format at present and when ratified will supersede AS 4488 here in Australia.

Different ISO member organisations Standards dealing with the same subject areas will almost always contain some differences. For example AS 1891.1, EN 361 and ANSI Z359.1-2007 all deal with fall arrest and fall protection system components, notably harnesses.  There are distinct differences between these (and other) Standards.  For example, AS 1891.1-2007 currently requires static and dynamic testing to be performed with a torso test mass of 100kg in weight.  This is significantly less than that required by ANSI Z359.1-2007 which requires an upper limit weight of 140kg for testing.

It is not permissible to require however compliance of say a harness made in the USA with the Australian Standard AS 1891 because its place of manufacture is different and hence the Standard it complies with is different.  Neither Standards Australia nor Work Cover or any other organisation here in Australia has the authority to demand compliance of a foreign made item (that complies with an ISO member organisation Standard, in this case it would be an ANSI Standard) with an Australian Standard. All ISO member organisation Standards are voluntary unless they are specifically written into legislation.

If you would like to know more about compliance standards in relation to height safety equipment, please give us a call on 02 4784 2224 or follow this link to find out more about height safety training in general.