REGULATION AND COMPLIANCE

Chief Inspector of Quarries, John Mitas, a regular at CMPA meetings, discussed regulation and compliance as well as giving a brief on recently reported safety incidents at GM#12.

The incidents included a fall from a loader, engulfment in a crushed rock bin, a contractor driving off a quarry face and a bulldozer driving blade first over the face.

Mr Mitas made it clear that only luck saved these people and any of the incidents could have proven fatal, a risk no employee should be exposed to whilst at work.

Incidents of dust pollution and an illegal discharge of quarry slimes were also highlighted as both an environmental and a health concern. 

DPI records show that there are currently 710 granted Work Authorities and a further 302 proposals and applications.  It was noted that every site is allocated a risk profile and that the DPI utilises a risk management approach to assess the level of safety concerns on a site by site basis.

Mr Mitas said all sites are audited by DPI inspectors at one of five levels. The depth and frequency of the audits vary in according to the risk category of the quarry. 

Level P1 is an entire systems audit annually and this category is used on large mines -– Generally no quarries require this level of auditing in Victoria.  Level P2 covers most hard-rock quarries that undertake drilling and blasting, this level of auditing is completed by regional quarry inspectors annually.  A level P2 quarry may also have post audit inspections to check for compliance to points raised in the audit.  Smaller quarries fall under level P3 or P4 depending on the risk profile. The lowest level, P5 caters for shallow extraction.

Mr Mitas pointed out that the DPI does not have the resources to audit the shallow extractions but said “those involved in shallow extraction are the continued target of education and awareness campaigns.”

He explained that there have been no prosecutions in the past 10-20 years.  Auditing was explained as a verification process whereby compliance with OH&S and environmental requirements is assessed. It is also used to highlight to quarry operators and owners what areas require improvement. 

A member of the audience raised the question of unregistered quarries. The concern was that unregistered operations were not being audited and were therefore gaining an unfair commercial advantage. Mr Mitas assured those in attendance that these people had recently been given notification to obtain a Work Authority and would face prosecution if they failed to do so. 

Mr Mitas also requested that people who are aware of unregistered sites should take the initiative and contact him with details of the location. Unregistered pits operate unlawfully and pose a serious environmental and OH&S hazard to the community. 

Not all quarrying activities require registration under the Extractive Industries Development Act according to Victoria Government Gazette G 37; 19 September 1996 exemptions under the Act are as follows:

1. Any extraction or removal of stone from land undertaken by or on behalf of the Ministers responsible for the administration of the Conservation, Forests and Lands Act 1987 where the primary purpose of that excavation is for the footings or foundations of a building or structure, the construction of a car park, road, track, or other works; or any borrow pit adjacent to such excavation.
2. Any extraction or removal of stone undertaken during road construction activities undertaken by VicRoads and/or its agents within an existing or proposed road reservation and the extraction of road making materials by VicRoads and/or its agents, from areas adjacent to specific road works projects.
3. Any extraction or removal of stone undertaken during road construction activities by Local Government and/or its agents within an existing or proposed road reservation.
4. Extraction or removal of stone including dredging where the excavation constitutes works for marine navigational purposes or the establishment or renourishment of a beach.
5. Extraction or removal of stone where the excavation constitutes works for the purpose of establishing a port facility, railway or tunnel.
6. Extraction or removal of stone where the primary purpose of the extraction is for the footings or foundations of a building or structure.
7. Extraction or removal of stone from any land to a depth of up to two metres below the natural surface if the total of the area or areas of the surface of the land broken up by the extraction or removal does not exceed 2000 square metres.

Also the provisions of the Extractive Industries Development Act 1995 do not apply to with respect to extraction or removal of stone from land that is a farm if the stone is intended in good faith only to be used on that farm for the purposes of a dam or other farmwork and not for sale or any other commercial use.

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