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AMMONIUM NITRATE

By on November 16, 2005

Do You Ever Purchase Ammonium Nitrate For Your Quarry?

Sarah Andrew, CMPA Project Manager

Do you ever purchase Ammonium Nitrate for your quarry? If you answered yes, read on!

As any avid reader of this newsletter would know, the rules concerning the use of Ammonium Nitrate has recently come under regulation – namely the Dangerous Goods (HCDG) Regulations 2005. The key requirement of this regulation is the fact that as of 1 January 2006, suppliers will not sell Ammonium Nitrate unless you hold a HCDG licence.

This requirement also means that the transport, storage, or use of Ammonium Nitrate by an unregistered person after 1 January is illegal.

The licensing system has been created as part of a range of national security initiatives with the intention of banning inappropriate access to Security Sensitive Ammonium Nitrate (SSAN) and creating a consistent national licensing system.

There are two options available for those businesses that pr esent ly use Ammonium Nitrate—either upgrade your systems of management and storage/manufacture facilities and get a licence OR stop using ammonium nitrate.

For those businesses that chose to stop using Ammonium Nitrate, you may wish to contact the DPI to discuss your options. It would also be a good time to review your storage and handling systems especially from the point of view of preventing theft.

For those businesses that chose to continue using Ammonium Nitrate, you will need to start off by having a look at the Work Safe website (www.worksafe.vic.gov.au) where there is a link on the front page to ‘Dangerous Goods Regulations & Ammonium Nitrate’. Whilst you are there, make sure you download the ‘Storage of SSAN—Security Risk Assessment and Security Plan’. This template document will assist in complying with the regulations.

Secondly, you will need to purchase a copy of Australian Standard 4326-1995: The Storage and handling of oxidizing agents. This can be done from the website (www.standards.com.au) using a credit card.

Once you have reviewed this documentation, make a start on reviewing, improving and documenting your systems of management to address the requirements of AS 4326-1995 and the Security Plan. This may take some time and expense, so we recommend that you start this as soon as possible.

On the matter of the types of licenses you and your employees require, the following is true for Work Authority sites for Ammonium Nitrate used within the Work Authority area:

  • Licences and permits will be issued and managed through the DPI
  • Any licence to store HCDG is to be held in the name of the Work Authority holder
  • A permit for unsupervised access will be required for the person managing the Security Plan and anyone who has any need to ever access, use, transport around the site Ammonium Nitrate.
  • A licence to transport HCDG on any public roads will be issued through WorkSafe.

The following areas need to be addressed in the Security Plan:

  1. COMPANY DETAILS: This includes general company details, personnel details, business activities, etc.
  2. SECURITY RISK ASSESSMENT: A separate risk assessment and security plan is required for each storage site. This includes details such as volume of SSAN, site location in relation to public areas, security measures, etc.
  3. PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT: This includes a list of all works with unsupervised access to SSAN, checks undertaken of new employees with access to SSAN, details of those responsible for the implementation and maintenance of the security plan, etc.
  4. SITE SECURITY: This includes details of your secure storage arrangements for SSAN including maps, structure details, entry points, signage, etc.
  5. PROCEDURES: This covers the control of access to the secure store including restricted access, procedures for unauthorised access, key systems, record keeping and inventory, etc.

The licensing system will require a ‘100 point’ identification check, police check, and ASIO assessment.

Please contact the DPI (Colin Smith on 03 9658 4423) for advice and appropriate forms to be completed.

The CMPA would like to thank Grant Phillips and Roy Webb for their assistance with this issue.

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