CMPA NEWS (Issue 41)

By SARAH ANDREW

Sand & Stone has continued to be well read and we are now looking for articles and pictures to include in upcoming issues. Your contributions and suggestions are always welcome and would help the magazine remain informative to your operations.

VCEC INQUIRY INTO ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION

The above mentioned inquiry has identified 43 different environmental regulations that have the potential to impact upon businesses within Victoria. The Extractive Industries Development Act is one of five Acts identified in preliminary assessments as having a major impact.

CMPA has therefore made an official submission to the VCEC which covered issues such as:

• The Extractive Industries Development Act 1995 is not integrated into a Resources Industry Legislation Bill as this will hinder the sustainability and entrance of SMEs into the extractive industry.
• Earth resources are protected by the Government to prevent further sterilisation due to urban encroachment, zoning changes, and legislation as has been the case over the last 10 years.
• Environmental legislation should only be introduced once an environmental failure is proven and the science is sound. It must give consideration to the benefits to society of utilising natural resources.
• All legislative tools (including ‘grey letter law’) should be subject to financial impact assessments to ensure the legislative burden is proportionate to the environmental impact.
• Financial impact assessments should be subject to review to ensure that estimations are accurate and actual costs are proportional to the consequences, several years after legislation is introduced. Extreme variances should trigger a review of the legislation and a negative KPI upon the responsible authority.

REFERENCE MANUALS NOW AVAILABLE

If companies would like to purchase reference manuals such as Work Safely, Conduct Crushing Operations and Conduct Screening Operations they are now available from the CMPA at a cost of $50 for Members and $75 for others.

These manuals are the same as that utilised in training courses and have been developed in consultation with owners, operators and government representatives. They provide a sound set of industry minimum standards that your site could utilise.

The CMPA has been requested to translate the reference manuals into Arabic and would be interested in knowing if there is demand for any other languages. If you have any suggestions, please let the Secretariat know.

VECCI MEMBER DISCOUNT

The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) is a reputable source of employment advice and information, and office staff training.

As a service to our Members, the CMPA is pleased to off er a 15% discount on VECCI membership to all CMPA Members who also hold VECCI membership. This will be confirmed with VECCI over the coming months, so if you would like to take advantage of this offer contact Briony on (03) 5781 0655.

CMPA PUBLICATIONS IN HIGH DEMAND

Over the last two months, the Secretariat has experienced a run-out of publications with 66 reference manuals and 138 checklists and other books being sold!

If you think your company may be able to benefit from any of these publications and would like to see what all the fuss is about, check out the CMPA website www.cmpavic.asn.au or call the Secretariat on 1300 267 222.

CHANGES TO SUPER

From 1 July 2008, employers must use ordinary time earnings as defined in the super guarantee law, to calculate the minimum super guarantee contributions required for employees.

Ordinary time earnings are generally what employees earn for their ordinary hours of work excluding overtime, including:

• Over-award payments
• Commissions
• Allowances, and
• Paid leave

There were a number of changes made on 1 July 2008, and a draft ruling is to be released later in the year.

In the meantime, ensure you have:

• Reviewed the earnings base for all your employees to ensure you are calculating your super contributions based on ordinary time earnings
• Reviewed the ATO’s ‘Checklist for salary or wages and ordinary time earnings’ to see what is included and excluded from ordinary time earnings
• Updated your software and payroll systems
• Included performance based bonuses when calculating the super guarantee (some bonuses do not apply, for example Christmas bonuses)
• Included allowances when calculating the super guarantee (there are exceptions for reimbursements or fully expended allowances)
• Included employee commissions when calculating the super guarantee
• Considered the cost impact on your business if you are required to increase your super contributions, and
• Informed your employees of any changes to their super contributions

For more information on your super guarantee obligations as an employer:

Visit the ATO website www.ato.gov.au
Download or order a hardcopy (by phoning 1300 720 092) of the ATO publications

• Super: What Employers Need to Know (NAT 71038), or
• Superannuation Guarantee: How to Meet Your Super Obligations (NAT 1987)

Call the ATO on 13 10 20 between 8.00am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday, to speak to a tax officer

APPROVAL PROCESSES FOR EARTH RESOURCES

DPI recently engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers to map and assess the approvals processes which proponents of mining and petroleum/pipeline projects in the Victorian earth resources sector must undertake prior to commencing extraction operations.

This involved gauging timelines; the collection of opinions, belief and attitudes; and the identification of issues raised by stakeholders.

A key recommendation was the development and provision of a centralised source of information on the approval process and its requirements. This would include a dedicated website covering a variety of information such as environmental, heritage and native title requirements, etc.

The DPI would be responsible for the development and maintenance of this facility and their responsibilities should also be expanded to provide greater support to all project proponents and include the maintenance of a tracking system of the status of applications filed with other agencies.

Other recommendations included:

• Development of a guideline that sets out expectations in relation to consultation processes
• Improved processes for informing stakeholders on changes to regulation and approval processes
• Improving coordination of agency input and consistency of interpretation of legislation.

TRANSPORT CONTRACT

As part of the ACCC authorisation, the CMPA agreed to undertake a review of the impacts of the transport contract to the community. Th is has now been asked for by the ACCC.

A survey will be sent to those Members who have purchased the contract on CD but we’d also like to hear from others.

CMPA would like to know if anyone has been utilising the Transport Contract in their businesses to gain an understanding of how the document has worked and identify any areas where it needs attention.

If you have utilised the contract in your business, please contact Sarah.

ERTS FORUM

On 5 November, Sarah attended the Earth Resources Tripartite Safety Forum which is hosted by WorkSafe every quarter to discuss safety issues within the earth resources industry.

Issues discussed this quarter included a report on safety incidents and the historical trending, a draft fatigue handbook for the mining sector and a draft ‘Industry Hotspots’ for all sectors highlighting where injuries are occurring.

Historical trends looked at the incidents that were reported to the DPI between 1997 and 2007.

The most common injuries were sprains and strains (38%), open wounds (13%), crushing injuries (13%) and fractures (11%). Injuries were caused by being hit by moving equipment in 25% of all cases.

The fatigue handbook outlines what a mine licensee needs to undertake to comply with the fatigue management requirements of Chapter 5.3 of the OHS Regulations. The handbook has advice about managing fatigue, including information about developing fatigue management plans. It will be available from WorkSafe shortly.

‘Industry Hotspots’ is a visual aid which gives industries a quick appreciation of where injuries are occurring. This is based on compensation claims over a five year period. It consists of a picture of a person with key injury locations identified and a summary page of risks and controls methods.

RECENT EVENTS

The following meetings and events have been attended in October and November:

• WorkCover: We attended the most recent Earth Resources Tripartite Safety Forum to discuss current initiatives and concerns with WorkSafe and the unions.
• Native Vegetation: The industry Working Party met to discuss the draft industry specific guidelines for native vegetation.
• EIDA Review: We have continued to meet with the DPI on the matter and have commenced the study, ‘Uncertainties in the Work Authority approval process’. A number of meetings will be held on this matter with individual proponents.
• Environmental Regulation: We have met with the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (VCEC) to discuss the CMPA’s submission.
• VLPA Conference: Sarah presented at the VLPA conference in Geelong to update their Members on the EIDA review.
• Education: Meetings have been held with the state authority; the Institute of Quarrying Australia; and to finalise the Service and Handover units and the Conduct Screening Operations unit.

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