CMPA NEWS (Issue 61)
CMPA Secretariat provides an update of the latest news and happenings.
CMPA 2012 AGM & DINNER
Sponsorship for the 2012 AGM & Dinner at the RACV Club in Healesville is well and truly opened. All Associates were emailed a copy of the Sponsorship Flyer back on the 16th December 2011. At present we have commitment from 27 Associate Members at different sponsorship levels.
Our two main Platinum sponsors this year are:
Atlas Copco Construction Mining Australia and Victoria Construction Equipment Pty Ltd.
There are still spots available, but they may not last long!
CIVIL CONSTRUCTION ALLIANCE
A Civil Construction Alliance (CCA) meeting of which the CMPA is a member was held early in March 2012.
Russell Northe MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business in the Victorian State Government was the guest speaker. The three main messages that Russell stressed during the meeting was that the State Government was serious about reducing red tape for businesses, that there was the potential for considerable improvement in the Procurement and Purchasing policies for the State and that there are Grants and assistance available for small business through Business Victoria for various activities.
Russell did agree to have further discussions with CCA members on ways of reducing red tape that is a major problem for the extractive industry in Victoria at present.
Other speakers at the meeting included Ken Mathers CEO Linking Melbourne Authority and Craig Lapsley Fire Services Commissioner.
Ken Mathers discussed in detail the planning that is occurring with the proposed East West road link from the existing East Link to the Western Ring Road near Deer Park.
Craig Lapsley discussed changes that are taking place in the control and operation of the three organisations responsible for fire services in Victoria these being the CFA, DSE and MFB.
MEMBER VISITS BY SECRETARIAT
In February 2012 Bruce McClure General Manager and Management Committee member Adrian Town visited member sites over a two day period in the Colac, Warrnambool, Coleraine and Mooree areas. They also visited a number of potential member sites as well, with one site signing up and making a membership payment. A further report on the latest visit is found in this magazine.
Thank you to all the members recently visited by Bruce and Adrian for taking the time to show them around your site and providing them with valuable information.
SITE SAMPLING AND PREPARATION OF SAMPLES FOR TESTING COURSES
The CMPA has been working with the Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFT (TAFT) to develop courses for Collect Routine Site Samples (MSL 952001A Certificate III in Laboratory Skills) and Conduct Laboratory Based Acceptance Tests For Construction Materials (MSL 973010A Diploma of Laboratory Technology level).
Not only does each of these courses meet the requirements for a unit of competency in the Certificate III in Surface Extractive Operations but also are suitable for CMPA extractive industry members to use at their own sites.
An initial Collect Routine Site Samples course was run and following a good debrief from people who participated in that course further improvement have been made to the training documents.
VicRoads has been involved with the documents and have provided considerable input. A meeting will be held shortly with VicRoads to get a final tick of approval for the Collect Routine Site Samples course.
The Conduct Laboratory Based Acceptance Tests for Construction Materials documentation is being prepared at present and will be shortly sent to VicRoads and others for comments.
WORKSAFE VICTORIA EARTH RESOURCES TRIPARTRITE SAFETY FORUM
The first tri-monthly meeting of the WorkSafe Victoria Earth Resources Tripartite Safety Forum (ERTS) was held late in February 2012.
The State Government is still continuing with the Supplementary Impact Statement that is looking at the impact of the proposed Federal model Work Health and Safety laws recently enacted federally and in some States. At this stage there is no indication as to when a decision will be made on what “Harmonised Regulations” the Victorian State Government will agree to.
The Guidelines for Electrical Safety in Quarries which was released in 2002 needs updating. There have been discussions with Energy Safe Victoria regarding a document upgrade. The document is considered essential for the industry and will be updated through industry sources as soon as possible.
WorkSafe Victoria (WSV) is looking at possible ways of improving the way information is released relating to incidents on sites. Other State jurisdictions methods are being examined.
A Safety Alert has been released for working in oxygen deficient atmospheres. This is mainly an issue for the mining sector but quarry sites need to be aware of the issues particularly when they have workmen working in environments that require a good ventilation flow of air through the area.
WSV commented on proposed internal changes to the department structure. One of the proposals is that the Extractive Industries area which currently operates under the Construction and Utilities Division be moved to the Earth Resources area (which already includes mining) in the Hazard Management Division.
A number of stakeholders had been briefed on the proposed changes but the most disappointing aspect of these proposals is that none of the associates that represent the extractive industries had been involved in any briefing on the proposals. The WSV promised to rectify this situation and brief the extractive industries associations as a matter of urgency.
From the 1 July 2011 to 31 January 2012 there has been a total of 136 visits to extractive industries sites by WSV inspectors. Of these 51 improvement notices, 15 prohibition notices, 3 dangerous goods notices and 7 voluntary compliance notices were issued.
MEETING WITH SENIOR ADVISOR TO MINISTER FOR ENERGY AND RESOURCES
Early in March 2012 the CMPA met with Sarah Leslie Senior Advisor, Energy and Resources Office of the Hon. Michael O’Brien MP, Minister for Energy and Resources. This meeting was organised so that Sarah could be updated on concerns that the CMPA has with the recent Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act Review Phase 2 carried out by the DPI especially the Phase 2 position papers presented and discussed at meetings and by submissions from stakeholders such as the CMPA.
Sarah gave an indication of the current status of the review in particular the Phase 2 policy papers and the fact that the Minister is giving these documents serious scrutiny is welcome news.
The meeting also discussed a number of other issues that are impacting on the extractive industries. The meeting was very productive and both have agreed to meet again.
DEVELOPMENT OF GENERIC CREDIT APPLICATION FORM
The CMPA is working with members to develop a generic Credit Application and Terms & Conditions document that can be used by all members for the benefit of their businesses.
A number of members have documents recently developed and in use. These are being looked at to see if they can be adopted to form the basis of a document suitable for all members to use with only minor alterations and/or additions to a couple of the actual forms.
A draft document should be available by late April 2012.
MEETING WITH SENIOR OFFICERS OF WORKSAFE
Late in February 2012 Bruce McClure and Ron Kerr of the CMPA met with Lisa Sturzenegger General Manager Operations Health and Safety Division and Jarrod Edwards Director Hazard Management Division WorkSafe to discuss the proposed internal changes to the department structure.
WorkSafe are now well aware that they did not involve the extractive industries in the discussions on the possible structure and stated that steps have been taken to ensure that this does not occur again when comment is sort from Stakeholders.
SITE VISIT, WORKSHOP AND GENERAL MEETING
The CMPA is planning a site visit to a quarry site in the Wyndham Vale area followed by a workshop at a local venue that will cover recent changes to guidelines for explosive use, issues relating to use of contractor trucks (including a new CMPA document “Hire Agreement for Cartage Contractors”) and changes to OH&S regulations both State and Federal.
The workshops will be followed by a general meeting at which all members present will be updated on the important events that are currently affecting the extractive industry. The final event for the day will be a dinner at a local venue.
The exact details of the site visit and workshops are still under negotiation but all members will be advised of the actual activities well before the day proposed in late May 2012.
Where: Starting at a quarry site in the Wyndham Vale area.
When: The proposed date is Wednesday 30 May 2012
Further details will be sent to all members shortly.
RECENT EVENTS
CMPA met with Jillian Mannix from Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE to discuss documentation for the next training course – Collect Routine Site Samples.
CMPA members were invited to appear before the Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee (EDIC) in regard to its Inquiry into Greenfields Mineral Exploration & project development in Victoria. A transcript will be made available to the public shortly.
CMPA met with members (and potential members) to discuss development of three resource tools:
- Conditions of Credit document
- Hire agreement with cartage contractors – short form
- Health Assessment Tool
Box Hill Institute of TAFE ran the Conduct Crushing Operations at Northern Quarries in Epping as well as Worksafely and Conduct Local Risk at the DPI offices in Bendigo.
Bruce McClure and Adrian Town ventured to the western districts of Victoria visiting members and potential members quarry sites.
CMPA attended the latest Earth Resources Tripartite Safety Forum conducted by Worksafe Victoria aiming to “Improve health and safety performance in Victoria’s earth resources industries.”
The first CMPA Management Committee for the year was held.
Bruce McClure & Tony Tamburro met with Midstate Credit Management Services regards developing a Credit Application and Terms document.
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