Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Rail Safety Act 2006 - SECT 3

Definitions and interpretation

3. Definitions and interpretation



(1) In this Act-

accreditation means an accreditation under Part 5; accredited rail operations
means-

   (a)  rail infrastructure operations carried out by a rail infrastructure
        manager in respect of which the rail infrastructure manager is
        accredited under Part 5; or

   (b)  rolling stock operations carried out by a rolling stock operator in
        respect of which the rolling stock operator is accredited under
        Part 5; accredited rail operator means a rail infrastructure manager
        or rolling stock operator who is accredited under Part 5; ambulance
        service has the same meaning as in the Ambulance Services Act 1986;

approved code of practice means a code of practice approved under Part 8 and
includes an approved code of practice revised in accordance with that Part;

approved health professional means-

   (a)  a registered nurse, within the meaning of the Nurses Act 1993,
        registered in division 1 of the register kept under that Act;

   (b)  a person approved under section 8 to take a blood sample for the
        purposes of this Act; binding access arrangement has the same meaning
        as in section 38A of the Rail Corporations Act 1996;

breath analysing instrument means a breath analysing instrument within the
meaning of the Road Safety Act 1986;

business day means a day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday
appointed under the Public Holidays Act 1993; Chief Investigator means the
Chief Investigator, Transport and Marine Safety Investigations appointed under
section 83 of the Transport Act 1983; competence, in relation to a rail safety
worker, means sufficient education, training, experience, acquired knowledge,
and skills to enable the rail safety worker to perform a specified task
correctly; control, in relation to a rail infrastructure-see section 5;

corresponding law means, for the purposes of Part 6, a law of another State or
a Territory of the Commonwealth declared under section 9 to be a corresponding
law; Country Fire Authority means the Country Fire Authority appointed under
the Country Fire Authority Act 1958; Department means the Department of
Infrastructure; dispute resolution decision has the same meaning as in
section 38A of the Rail Corporations Act 1996; drug means a substance that is
a drug for the purposes of this Act by virtue of a declaration under section 4
or any other substance (other than alcohol) which, when consumed or used by a
person, deprives that person (temporarily or permanently) of any of his or her
normal mental or physical faculties; emergency plan-see section 52; emergency
service means-

   (a)  the Chief Commissioner of Police;

   (b)  an ambulance service;

   (c)  the Country Fire Authority;

   (d)  the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board; Energy Safe
        Victoria means Energy Safe Victoria established under section 4 of the
        Energy Safe Victoria Act 2005;

hazard means a source of potential harm; health and safety representative has
the same meaning as in the Occupational and Health and Safety Act 2004;
interface co-ordination plan means a plan developed by a rail operator that
identifies and specifies-

   (a)  the potential risks to the safety of rail operations carried out by
        that rail operator at a place that may be caused or contributed,
        wholly or in part by-

   (i)  the activities or rail operations of another rail operator or
        activities of another person at that place; or

   (ii) the ownership, occupation or management of that place by another rail
        operator or another person;

   (b)  any other matter or thing that is prescribed; major incident means an
        incident or natural event that poses a serious and immediate risk to
        safety and includes a derailment of rolling stock, a collision, a fire
        or explosion; Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board means the
        Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board established under the
        Metropolitan Fire Brigades Act 1958; officer of a body corporate,
        unincorporated body or association or partnership has the meaning
        given by section 9 of the Corporations Act; person includes a body
        corporate, unincorporated body or association and a partnership;
        premises includes any structure, building or place (whether built on
        or not), and any part of such structure, building or place; prescribed
        concentration of alcohol means any concentration of alcohol present in
        the breath or blood of a person;

private siding means a siding that is managed by a person other than a person
who controls the rail infrastructure that the siding connects with, or has
access to, but does not include-

   (a)  a marshalling yard;

   (b)  a siding used mainly to enable rolling stock to pass other rolling
        stock that is on the same track;

   (c)  a passenger terminal;

   (d)  a siding of a kind that the regulations state is not a private siding;
        public transport safety matter has the meaning set out in section 82A
        of the Transport Act 1983;

rail contractor means a person who-

   (a)  whether or not under an agreement with a rail infrastructure manager
        or rolling stock operator designs, commissions, constructs,
        manufactures, supplies, installs, erects, maintains, repairs, modifies
        or decommissions any thing that may be used as rail infrastructure or
        rolling stock; or

   (b)  is engaged directly or indirectly by a rail infrastructure manager or
        rolling stock operator to supply rail infrastructure operations or
        rolling stock operations to that rail infrastructure manager or
        rolling stock operator, and includes a sub-contractor;

rail infrastructure means the facilities that are necessary to operate a
railway safely and includes, but is not limited to, railway track, associated
track structures and works (such as cuttings, tunnels, bridges, stations,
platforms, tram stops, excavations, land fill, track support earthworks and
drainage works), over-track structures, under-track structures, service roads,
signalling systems, rolling stock control systems, communications systems,
notices and signs, overhead electrical power supply systems, and associated
buildings, workshops, depots, yards, plant, machinery and equipment, but does
not include rolling stock; rail infrastructure manager means a person who
controls rail infrastructure;

rail infrastructure operations means designing, commissioning, constructing,
manufacturing, erecting, installing, operating, maintaining, repairing,
modifying, decommissioning or managing rail infrastructure; rail operations
means rail infrastructure operations or rolling stock operations; rail
operator means a rail infrastructure manager or rolling stock operator;

rail safety work-see section 7;

rail safety worker means a person who has carried out, is carrying out or is
about to carry out, rail safety work and includes-

   (a)  a person who is employed or engaged by a rail operator to carry out
        rail safety work;

   (b)  a person engaged by a person (other than by a rail operator) to carry
        out rail safety work;

   (c)  a trainee;

   (d)  a volunteer; railway means a guided system designed for the movement
        of rolling stock that has the capability of transporting passengers or
        freight or both on a railway track with a railway track gauge of 600
        millimetres or more, together with its rail infrastructure, and
        includes-

   (a)  a heavy railway;

   (b)  a light railway;

   (c)  a monorail railway;

   (d)  an inclined railway;

   (e)  a tramway;

   (f)  a railway within a marshalling yard or passenger or freight terminal;

   (g)  a private siding;

   (h)  a railway that is prescribed by the regulations to be a railway; Note
        Section 6 sets out the railways to which this Act does not apply.
        railway premises means-

   (a)  land (including any premises on the land) on or in which is situated
        any item or part of an item of rail infrastructure; or

   (b)  land (including any premises on the land) on or in which is situated
        any over-track structure or part of an over-track structure, or on or
        in which is situated any under-track structure or part of an
        under-track structure; or

   (c)  land (including any premises on land) on or in which documents or
        records required for, or relating to, the accreditation of an
        accredited rail operator are kept; or

   (d)  freight centres or depots; or

   (e)  maintenance depots; or

   (f)  premises including an office, building or housing used in connection
        with the carrying out of rail operations; or

   (g)  rolling stock or other vehicles associated with the railway; or

   (h)  workshops; or

   (i)  any railway track, works or other thing that is part of anything
        mentioned in paragraphs (e) to (h)- but does not include any
        residential premises; registered employee organisation means an
        organisation, of which some or all of the members are employees, that
        is registered, or taken to be registered, under Schedule 1B to the
        Workplace Relations Act 1996 of the Commonwealth;

registered medical practitioner means a registered medical practitioner within
the meaning of the Medical Practice Act 1994; residential premises means
premises, or a part of premises, that is used for predominantly residential
purposes;

rolling stock means a vehicle or a part of a vehicle that operates on or uses
a railway track, and includes a locomotive, carriage, rail car, rail motor,
light rail vehicle, train, tram, light inspection vehicle, road/rail vehicle,
trolley, wagon or monorail vehicle but does not include a vehicle or a part of
a vehicle designed to operate both on and off a railway track when the vehicle
is not operating on a railway track; rolling stock operations means-

   (a)  operating rolling stock; or

   (b)  designing, commissioning, constructing, manufacturing, maintaining,
        repairing or modifying rolling stock; rolling stock operator means a
        person who is entitled to operate rolling stock on a railway because
        the person is-

   (a)  also the rail infrastructure manager who controls the railway on which
        the rolling stock is operated; or

   (b)  a party to an agreement that allows them to operate rolling stock on
        that railway; or

   (c)  allowed to operate rolling stock on that railway under a binding
        access arrangement or dispute resolution decision; safety audit means
        an inspection of-

   (a)  any of the following or a part of the following-

   (i)  rail infrastructure used in carrying out accredited rail operations;

   (ii) rolling stock used in carrying out accredited rail operations;

   (iii) accredited rail operations; or

   (b)  the performance of, or any aspect of the performance of-

   (i)  the employees of an accredited rail operator; or

   (ii) a rail contractor within the meaning of paragraph (b) of the
        definition of rail contractor who supplies rail operations to an
        accredited rail operator; Safety Director means the Director, Public
        Transport Safety appointed under section 9L of the Transport Act 1983;
        safety management system-see Division 4 of Part 3; Secretary means the
        Secretary to the Department; substance means substance in any form
        (whether gaseous, liquid, solid or other) and includes material,
        preparation, extract and admixture; supply includes-

   (a)  in relation to goods-supply and resupply by way of sale, exchange,
        lease, hire or hire purchase, whether as principal or agent;

   (b)  in relation to services-provide, grant or confer, whether as principal
        or agent; transport safety officer has the same meaning as in the
        Transport Act 1983; Tribunal means Victorian Civil and Administrative
        Tribunal established by the
        Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998; utility means-

   (a)  an entity (whether publicly or privately owned) which provides, or
        intends to provide, water, sewerage, drainage, gas, electricity,
        telephone, telecommunication or other like services under the
        authority of an Act of Victoria or the Commonwealth;

   (b)  a road authority within the meaning of the Road Management Act 2004;

Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Director means the Director within
the meaning of the Coroners Act 1985; volunteer means a person who is acting
on a voluntary basis (irrespective of whether the person receives
out-of-pocket expenses).

(2) For the purposes of this Act, a rail infrastructure manager is deemed to
carry out rail infrastructure operations supplied to the rail infrastructure
manager by-

   (a)  a rail contractor engaged directly or indirectly by the rail
        infrastructure manager to supply those operations to the rail
        infrastructure manager; or

   (b)  a sub-contractor of the rail contractor referred to in paragraph (a).

(3) For the purposes of this Act, a rolling stock operator is deemed to carry
out rolling stock operations supplied to the rolling stock operator by-

   (a)  a rail contractor engaged directly or indirectly by the rolling stock
        operator to supply those operations to the rolling stock operator; or

   (b)  a sub-contractor of the rail contractor referred to in paragraph (a).

(4) For the purposes of this Act-

   (a)  an accredited rail operator is deemed to carry out rail infrastructure
        operations or rolling stock operations supplied to the accredited rail
        operator by-

   (i)  a rail contractor engaged directly or indirectly by the accredited
        rail operator to supply those operations to the accredited rail
        operator; or

   (ii) a sub-contractor of the rail contractor referred to in subparagraph
        (i); and

   (b)  rail infrastructure operations or rolling stock operations referred to
        in paragraph (a) are deemed to be accredited rail operations.

(5) For the purposes of this Act-

   (a)  a rail infrastructure manager is deemed to carry out rail
        infrastructure operations carried out for that manager by a
        labour-hire contractor;

   (b)  a rolling stock operator is deemed to carry out rolling stock
        operations carried out for that operator by a labour-hire contractor.

(6) In subsection (5)-

labour-hire contractor means an individual whose services are supplied to a
rail infrastructure manager or rolling stock operator under an agreement or
arrangement between-

   (a)  the person that employs or engages that individual; and

   (b)  as the case requires, that manager or operator- to carry out rail
        infrastructure operations or rolling stock operations (as the case
        requires).