Mining Safety and Health
Resources Safety protects employees in the minerals industry by administering the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (WA) and Mines Safety and Inspection Regulations 1995 (WA).
Page Index
Comments invited on revised NORM guidelines
Statutory and other reviews and reports
Copies of act and regulations
Copies of the Act and associated regulations are only available from the State Law Publisher (external links provided below).
Mines Safety and Inspection Amendment Regulations 2009
The Mines Safety and Inspection Amendment Regulations 2009 came into effect on 21 July 2009.
The amendments mainly relate to:
- Changes to the Mines Safety and Inspection Act in relation to forms
- Changes to health surveillance provisions to reflect current practice
- Introduction of the National licensing regime for high-risk work to the mining industry in Western Australia, including transition periods
- Removal of existing exemptions for exploration operations from requirements in respect of radiation safety
- Updated references to bodies, Standards, codes and guidance notes.
Further information is available in Gazette No 137, available on the State Law Publisher's website.
General duty of care
The legislation above defines standards of safety. Safety systems that meet these standards have to be developed by companies and made part of day-to-day work practice.
Resources Safety is using an approach that makes it the employer's responsibility to manage safety, known as the General duty of care in Western Australian mines (available below).
General exemptions
The State Mining Engineer has issued the following general exemptions from the provisions of the Mines Safety and Inspection Regulations 1995 (WA).
Codes of practice
Codes of practice endorsed by the Mining Industry Advisory Committee and approved by the Minister are provided below:
See also:
Welding Technology Institute's Health and Safety in Welding technical note (TN07). This technical note was approved (effective from 7 July 2006) by the then Minister for Employment Protection as a code of practice under section 93 of the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (WA).
Comments invited on revised NORM guidelines
Comments are invited on the revised Managing naturally occurring radioactive material in mining and mineral processing guidelines (NORM Guidelines), which include information for the new uranium mining industry.
Comments on the drafts (below) should be submitted by email to Ivan Fetwadjieff (ivan.fetwadjieff@dmp.wa.gov.au) by 30 November 2009.
Statutory and other reviews and reports
Reviews of the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 (WA) are provided below.
Kenner Report (2009)
A statutory review of the operation and effectiveness of the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (WA) has been conducted by Commissioner S J Kenner of the WA Industrial Relations Commission.
The review was also required to take into account the:
- Areas of the legislation that could be improved, such as the application to rail safety, mine sites during construction and interaction with other occupational safety and health legislation
- Goals and strategies of the National Mine Safety Framework
- Recent "Hicks Report" on Feasibility Study of Resources Safety in Western Australia that recommended the introduction of a safety case regime into the mining industry
- Recommendations outstanding from the "Laing Report" in relation to the review of Parts 3 and 4 of the Act
- Recent review of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 (WA) by Mr Richard Hooker.
Submissions closed on 31 January 2008. Commissioner Kenner's report was tabled in Parliament on 8 April 2009.
Laing Report (2003)
It is a requirement of the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (MSIA) that a review of operation and effectiveness of the Act be undertaken as soon as is practicable after the expiration of 5 years from its commencement. The first review was conducted by R Laing in 2003.
Hicks Report (2007)
The Feasibility Study of Resources Safety in Western Australia was undertaken in 2006-07 by Mr Stuart Hicks, who reported to the then Minister for Employment Protection and Minister for Resources.
Hooker Report (2006)
It is a requirement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 (WA) that a review of the Act’s operations be carried out on every fifth anniversary of its commencement. The Hooker Report is the fourth such review.
Ritter Report (2004)
On 15 July 2004, the then Minister for State Development appointed Mr Mark Ritter to conduct an inquiry into the occupational health and safety systems and practices of BHP Billiton Iron Ore and Boodarie Iron sites in Western Australia and related matters, and report on 12 November 2004.
Enforcement and prosecution policy
The enforcement and prosecution policy (provided below) applies to those acts and regulations administered by Resources Safety that relate to mining occupational safety and health and dangerous goods safety.
The primary focus of much of the legislation administered by Resources Safety is to ensure resources development in Western Australia is carried out in a way that is safe for employees and the public.
The legislation provides a range of enforcement and prosecution measures to help achieve this. When required, enforcement or prosecution action is taken in the public interest to protect people and the environment.
Inspectorate boundaries
The following map shows inspectorate boundaries in Western Australia.
