WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
The CMPA reports on the proposed introduction of Work Health and Safety Management Systems to Extractive Industry Sites.
IN the last edition of Sand and Stone ( June/July), the proposed draft Harmonised Mining Regulations and draft Code of Practice for the Work Health and Safety Management Systems (WHSMS) in Mining document was discussed. Following on from that article, Bruce McClure recently attended a meeting with WorkSafe Victoria were these proposed changes and their introduction was discussed. The Civil Contractors Federation (CCF) and the Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA) were also present at this meeting.
It was made quite clear that the CMPA and CCF have a real concern with the regulations and code of practice concentrating almost exclusively on mining activities. Apart from a brief reference to the extractives industry under Section 9.1.2 of the draft regulations which relates to extracting minerals from the ground and Section 9.1.3. which defines rock, stone, gravel or sand as a mineral, there is virtually no other mention of the extractives industry.
The majority of text in the current regulations and code of practice does not relate to the extractives industry. There is also a real concern that the extractives industry and the construction industry may inadvertently be tied up with regulations that are meant for the mining sector but can affect the extractives and construction areas.
The CMPA position on these proposed regulations is quite clear. It does not believe that they should be imposed on the extractive industries. The real concern is that there is no evidence to suggest that the extractive industry in Victoria has safety issues or the potential for major safety issues in the future to justify imposing such a burden on the industry particularly on small family businesses that employee very small numbers of people.
Governments frequently talk about reducing the red tape but this is just another example of additional costs and layers of bureaucracy being imposed on small family businesses without any discernible benefits.
WorkSafe Victoria (WSV) is in a real dilemma when it comes to these draft regulations. Although they may be sympathetic to the industry concerns with the way the regulations and codes are written, their hands are tied to the extent that the harmonisation of the regulations across Australia has been agreed to by all state and Federal governments.
The draft Regulations and Code of Practice mining are now out for public comment and the CMPA will be making a submission to Safe Work Australia with regards to the way the extractive industries have been all but ignored and on the proposed legislation and applicable code of practice.
The CMPA submission (prepared by Peter Day) to Safe Work Australia will address some of the concerns stated below.
Impact and credibility
The draft regulations Chapter 9 – Mines loses its impact and credibility to our members as it talks explicitly about mining for the overwhelming majority of the text even though in Victoria the extractive industry is bigger than mining (excluding coal). The only mention and reference to the extractive industries is under section 9.1.2 which relates to extracting minerals from the ground and Section 9.1.3. which defines rock, stone, gravel or sand as a mineral. The majority of text does not relate to the extractive industries or their systems of operations. The model put forward in these regulations is not representative of the risks, nature and activities that take place in a quarry. For that reason and assuming that the regulations become law, the CMPA considers that in that instance there should be specific regulations that relate to the extractive industries and that these should be contained in a specific document that refers to the extractive industries.
Confusion over regulations administered by different Government Departments
The draft regulations include requirements on road, vehicle operating areas, ground and/or slope stability. The CMPA has a concern that many of these areas are the responsibility of the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) in Victoria who issue and control the Work Authority for the extractive industries on the relevant sites. To have two government organisations concerned about the same issues, that is, WorkSafe Victoria and DPI, will lead to confusion and frustration amongst our members. An even bigger concern is that many of these issues that only relate to mining will be imposed on the extractive industries because of incorrect interpretation of the regulations.
Managing recycling and mobile operators
It is estimated that currently in Victoria recycling and mobile plant operations contribute an additional 15% of the total extractive industries production in the state. These operations have not even been identified within the documentation and consequently, if they are exempt from the need to have WHSMS then there will not be a “level playing field” in Victoria.
Implementation compliance costs
Apart from the costs and time required in initially setting up the WHSMS, the compliance requirements (time, resources and cost) to maintain the system and report to the appropriate authority on the frequency set, will be considerable. This is simply another cost imposed on family owned business without any discernible benefits.
The plea by the CMPA for considerable time is for balanced regulation. Balance in the quest of increasing social and environmental needs with the need of industry to be able to confidently risk its capital and ingenuity in the pursuit of profit-making ventures in a fiercely competitive environment. Balanced regulation will provide benefits for consumers of earth resource products. They will have more choices of product, more choices in terms of access to product and more choices in the optimum mix of prices of products reflecting vibrant competition and a low cost regulatory environment.
Balanced regulation will also allow small business enterprises including family businesses to flourish within their own operating market segments without the costs of unnecessarily complex regulation that makes their businesses vulnerable to anti competitive pricing and ultimate poaching by multi-national operators. Regulatory balance is the key and is the answer.
What is proposed to be imposed on the extractive industries in Victoria cannot be described as balanced regulation.
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