19Duties of suppliers in relation to plant and substances

#### 19 Duties of suppliers in relation to plant and substances (1) A supplier of any plant or substance that the supplier ought reasonably to expect will be used by employees at work must take all reasonably practicable steps: (a) to ensure that, at the time of supply, the plant or substance is in such condition as to be, when properly used, safe for employees and without risk to their health; and (b) to carry out, or cause to be carried out, the research, testing and examination necessary in order to discover, and to eliminate or minimise, any risk, to the health or safety of employees, that may arise from the condition of the plant or substance; and (c) to make available to an employer, in connection with the use of the plant or substance by employees at work, adequate information concerning: (i) the condition of the plant or substance at the time of supply; and (ii) any risk to the health and safety of employees to which the condition of the plant or substance may give rise unless it is properly used; and (iii) the steps that need to be taken in order to eliminate such risk; and (iv) in the case of a substance—the first aid and medical procedures that should be followed in the event of the condition of the substance causing injury to an employee. > Note: A supplier who breaches subsection (1) may be subject to civil action or a criminal prosecution (see Schedule 2). (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), where a person (in this subsection called the ostensible supplier) supplies to an employer any plant or substance that is to be used by employees at work, and the ostensible supplier: (a) carries on the business of financing the acquisition or the use of goods by other persons; and (b) has, in the course of that business, acquired an interest in the plant or substance solely for the purpose of financing its acquisition by the employer from a third person, or its provision to the employer by a third person; and (c) has not taken possession of the plant or substance or has taken possession of the plant or substance solely for the purpose of passing possession of the plant or substance to that employer; the reference in subsection (1) to a supplier is, in relation to the plant or substance referred to in this subsection, to be read as a reference to the third person and not as a reference to the ostensible supplier. (3) Nothing in this section affects the operation of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, or of any other law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory that imposes an obligation in respect of the sale or supply of goods or in respect of the information to be supplied in relation to goods.