Employers and Employees

Resources Safety produces a range of publications aimed at promoting best practice in the areas of occupational safety and health with companies (and their employees) involved in the mining industry.

Audit guidelines and templates

Mine Managers are encouraged to perform regular safety audits of mine sites.

Mines Safety Inspectors use standard templates and guidelines when they conduct an audit. You can view/download the guidelines on individual topics and related templates from the Publications - Mining Safety section.

Codes of practice

The codes of practice provided on this website have been endorsed by the Mining Industry Advisory Committee and approved by the Minister. You can view/download the codes of practice from the Publications - Mining Safety section.

The Welding Technology Institute's Health and Safety in Welding technical note (TN07) 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).

Guidelines

A guideline is an explanatory document that provides more information on the requirements of legislation, details good practice, and may explain means of compliance with standards prescribed in the legislation. The government, unions or employer groups may issue guidance material.

Compliance with guidelines is not mandatory but they could have legal standing if it were demonstrated that the guideline is the industry norm. You can view/download the guidelines from the Publications - Mining Safety section.

The following guidelines are currently under revision:

• Emergency preparedness for underground fires in metalliferous mines
• Purchase/operation and maintenance of underground diesel engined mining equipment - Under the section "vehicles for special purposes" (on page 25) it states that "....these items are not classified plant if used exclusively underground". Please note this is not correct. There is no distinction between surface and underground for classified plant.
• Tyre safety, fires and explosions.

Please note: The NORM guideline is currently under review. You can review and comment on the draft revised guideline through the Legislation and Policy section.

Guides and procedures

Several guides related to mining safety and health are available on this website, including:

• CONTAM system procedures
• Minehealth health surveillance system guide
• Testing and tagging electronic portable equipment.

You can view/download the guides and procedures from the Publications - Mining Safety section.

MineSafe magazine

MineSafe highlights safety issues in the Western Australian minerals industry. You can view/download current and past editions from the Publications - Mining Safety section.

Mine Safety and Inspection Act pamphlet series

Resources Safety has produced a series of pamphlets that provide summary information on what employers and employees need to know about the Mine Safety and Inspection Act.

The pamphlets provide general guidance only. The relevant Acts and regulations should be consulted for detailed information, or contact your regional inspectorate. You can view/download Mine Safety and Inspection Act pamphlets from the Publications - Mining Safety section.

Mine safety matters pamphlet series

Resources Safety has produced a series of pamphlets that provide advice on identifying hazards, assessing risk and making the changes for a range of mining health and safety topics. You can view/download the mine safety matters pamphlets from the Publications - Mining Safety section.

Posters

A range of posters on what employees and employers need to know about the Mines Safety and Inspection Act are available in the publications area. You can view/download the posters from the Publications - Mining Safety section.

Hardcopy and high-resolution PDF versions of the posters are available upon request (email: ResourcesSafety@dmp.wa.gov.au).

Safety bulletins and significant incident reports

Safety bulletins and significant incident reports provide valuable information for employers and employees on preventative actions. You can view/download safety bulletins and significant incident reports from the Publications - Mining Safety section.

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The Minerals Industry Safety Handbook, published in 2002,  was a resource intended to assist all mine sites achieve the highest possible levels of occupational safety and health practice. It was produced jointly by Government agencies and Minerals Councils in several States. The handbook is provided below but note that the content is not being updated.

The Safe Mining: Practical Guidance was published in 1996 and is being updated by CCH Australia.

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Please refer to our dedicated section for Safety and Health Representatives for guidance on the following (including forms):

• Role and responsibilities
• Elections
• Investigating incidents and provisional improvement notices (PINs)
• Safety and health consultative mechanisms and procedures.

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Please refer to our dedicated section on occupational health for guidance on the following (including forms):

• Asbestos
• Hazardous substances
• Hazardous manual tasks
• Health surveillance and biological monitoring
• Noise control in mines
• Radiation safety.

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The Mineral Industry Risk Management Gateway (MIRMgate) www.mirmgate.com/ provides access to carefully selected good practice information to help reduce risks in mining, mineral processing, and quarrying operations. The web site is intended to specifically assist with the risk assessment process but has also been designed to be searched by hazard, task or subject.

The site is run by the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC) at the University of Queensland, under the direction of Professor Jim Joy and is a searchable metadatabase which will direct you to the source pages of relevant material.

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The occupational safety and health section of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia's website has a variety of useful information including:

• Overviews of the Chamber's Safety and Health Innovation Awards
• A report on a taxonomy study commissioned by the Chamber on fatalities in the WA mining industry during the period 1970-2006. The taxonomy looks at the damaging energy exchange at the root of the fatality, and examines both surface and underground operations. The report provides useful insight into where industry can focus their efforts, and can be used in developing new initiatives and programs, identifying existing training and management gaps, and for induction and training purposes
• Working Hours 2007 - a publication utilising industry data collected by the Chamber since 2003 to illustrate a range of working hour issues
• First Watch - bimonthly newsletters that aim to promote and circulate information about positive safety initiatives occurring throughout industry.

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To view publications available in hard copy and to place an order, download the form below, or call the publications and promotions officer on +61 8 9358 8178.

Please note, not all publications are available in hard copy.

Publications are free unless otherwise indicated on the form.

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