CMPA NEWS (Issue 63)

CMPA Secretariat provides an update of the latest news and happenings.

2012/13 ASSOCIATES REFERENCE MANUAL

The 2012/13 Associates Reference Manual is currently being pieced together, with the intention of delivering the manual to members in early October 2012.

A reminder to all Associates that, a signed membership renewal form will act as confirmation that all content on the form is correct for publishing in the manual. Renewal of advertising in the reference manual must be paid for in full before ads will be included.

There will also be the option of having colour logos or photos placed on your page to brighten up your page and to make your business stand out from the crowd.

Thank you to the five members who have already taken out ads your support is greatly appreciated.

Remember to Support the Suppliers who support you!

DANGEROUS GOODS (STORAGE AND HANDLING) INTERIM REGULATIONS 2011

The CMPA has been made aware by WorkSafe that the Victorian Dangerous Goods (Storage and Handling) Interim Regulations 2011 are due to expire on the 1st December 2012. WorkSafe has now commenced a process to review and remake the regulations by this date. Th e review will consider the operation of the current regulations and will seek to remedy any unintended consequences in their operation. It will also aim to identify opportunities to decrease costs for business without compromising safety standards for Victorians.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has been engaged to prepare a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) as part of the review process. The RIS plus the draft regulations will be made available to the public for comment.

The CMPA will keep members informed of any cost implications and impacts on their businesses when draft documentation is available.

SITE VISIT TO LAKE COOPER

Administration Officer Gavin Moreira was out and about on Monday 16th June for his first site visit to a quarry taking in the sites of Lake Cooper Quarries.

The long day involved the following:

• Site induction and inspection of offices.
• Weighbridge operations including review of computerised system and understanding of Traffic Management process on site.
• Tour of quarry site, looking at location of stockpiles and the various sizes/products that are produced and there usage. Including the dry, pre-coat production and wet mix products.

Inspection and drive around the North and South pits to gain an understanding of the geology of the rock being extracted across the six benches. He viewed a blasting site set up for a shot the following day with just detonators and explosives required, as well as a drill rig in action setting up for a future blast.

Visit to the control room of the primary crusher was a highlight where he was able to get a firsthand look at the plant in action as well as gain an understanding of the plant layout and the connection between primary, secondary and tertiary crushers and the different stages involved in crushing and the products produced.

Final visit of the day was to the laboratory and offices to view the process of sampling and the steps and tests involved to meet the clients request prior to the ordering and delivery of the product. This included reviewing the process of drying, washing, checking weights, moisture content and comparing against physical and rating scales.

An enjoyable and knowledgeable day was had by Gavin. Thank you to Adrian Bull, Maurice Kerring and all the staff at Lake Cooper Quarries for taking the time to show him around your site and providing him with a valuable insight into the everyday operations of the quarry.

HOW SKILLSDMC MAY AID YOUR BUSINESS

Late in June 2012 Bruce McClure General Manager CMPA met with Steve Earles, Manager Workforce Planning and Development from SkillsDMC national industry skills council to discuss what assistance they could provide to CMPA members.

SkillsDMC which was formed in 2004 covers activities in the coal and metal mining, quarrying, drilling and civil infrastructure industry sectors. They are a not for profit national organisation serving the current and future skills of the above industry sectors. They are supported by industry and recognised by the Federal, State and Territory governments and funded by the Federal government.

SkillsDMC’s goal as stated by the organisation, is “to achieve successful outcomes for industry, government and individuals demonstrated by a flattening of peaks and troughs of skills needs through a proactive industry – led vocational education and training system”.

Skills DMC will work with industry on workforce planning, that is, they can identify skill gaps and recommend training to fill these gaps based on the best and most efficient way of getting funding to assist the training. There will be $22 million available nationally in 2012-2013 for training needs in the resources and infrastructure area.

A quarry can seek assistance from Steve to help identify gaps, to assist with the application and to identify the type of training required.

A quarry will be required to fund some of the training the amount determined by the number of personnel working under the Quarry ABN. For 0 to 99 employees, the Government will pay 67% of the costs of the training, for 100 to 199 employees the Government will pay 50% of the costs and for 200 + employees, the Government will 34% of the costs.

For any CMPA member contemplating upgrading employee skills or wanting to train new employees a discussion with SkillsDMC is recommended to see what is available and to work out the most appropriate and economical way for you to move forward with training for your employees. Best of all there is no obligation or cost to simply talk to SkillsDMC.

LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT AUSTRALASIA

Early in July 2012 the CMPA met with John Roberts, Manager from Leadership Management Australasia, (LMA). LMA is a training company that specialises in delivering leadership, management, team development, sales and personal development training. LMA has been involved with management and leadership training within a number of extractive industry companies and is seeking the opportunity to work with more companies in our industry.

As one would expect technical training is a priority at most extractive sites but there may be a number of members who have recognised the need to improve the management and leadership skills of their employees.

The CMPA will be providing more details on this area of training in forthcoming editions of Sand & Stone.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

All Members are reminded that membership renewal paperwork has been sent and their prompt renewal would be greatly appreciated. In all cases, no payment is required when renewing membership and tax invoices will be posted once the Secretariat receives this information.

Associates are particularly reminded that their membership paperwork includes Sand & Stone advertising. Accordingly we need to know your intentions before the August/September issue.

Thank you to those members who have already renewed for the 2012/2013 year.

NOEL ALEXANDER DUNN

31.3.1956 – 17.6.2012

Loved and loving husband of Anna, devoted father to Roly and Lydia, passed away after a battle with cancer.

Noel (pictured above) was one of our longest serving Senior Inspector of Mines and worked out of our Ballarat office for over twenty years. Before he joined the Department of Primary Industries (DPI), Noel worked with WorkSafe Victoria and Ports and Harbours.

Noel was a practical man with a wealth of common sense and it always payed to listen and consider what he was saying. He was also a very good and client oriented inspector – firm but fair and always keen to help his clients to do better if he could.

Noel’s willingness to provide advice on how best deal with approvals or other regulatory matters will be missed.

SURVEY OF MEMBERS

The CMPA Members Survey for 2012 has been sent out to all Voting and Associate Members.

The purpose of the CMPA Member Survey is to capture the matters of relevance to Members in order to effectively direct the Association’s resources and activities for the betterment of Member’s.

Information from the survey will enable the Secretariat:

• To effectively represent the Membership at all levels of government;
• To provide governments with a better understanding of the significant impacts they have on the industry;
• To provide government with a better understanding of the impact the industry has on the State’s economy; and
• To provide required business focused services to the Membership; in education,training and business operations and management.

The effective provision of these services will provide a reference point for Members to move forward with confidence and to continue to invest in their operations.

Results of the survey will be presented at the Annual Dinner on Saturday 25th August 2012 at the RACV Club in Healesville.

At present there has only been a 23% return of the surveys.

Please invest this time to ensure the CMPA stays relevant to your business needs.

RECENT EVENTS

Bruce McClure met with Deb Sutherland Southern Medical Services Pty Ltd and Era Health and Tony Tamburro from Northern Quarries to discuss an upgrade of the CMPA Medical Guidelines and Employment Health Assessments and the possible development of functional assessments based on actual quarry tasks.

Gavin Moreira spent the day at Lake Cooper Quarry, involving a familiarisation of the site, plant/equipment, laboratory and weighbridge.

Bruce McClure met with two members of Skills DMC to discuss a recent restructure of Skills DMC and the changes in the roles of a number of people. Discussed in detail what assistance the organisation can provide to CMPA members in the future.

CMPA attended the latest Earth Resources Tripartite Safety Forum conducted by WorkSafe Victoria in late June 2012 aiming to “Improve health and safety performance in Victoria’s earth resources industries”

Bruce McClure met with Jarrod Edwards Director Workplace Hazards & Hazardous Industries Group and Rob Kelly Manager Earth Resources from Worksafe Victoria to discuss the strategic operating structure for the Health & Safety Operations group within WorkSafe. It came into operation on the 1st July 2012.

The CMPA Members Day was held, with a site visit to Northern Quarries followed by a Blasting Workshop and General Meeting of Members.

Box Hill Institute of TAFE held a two day training course on the unit Combined Crushing and Screening.

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