How are hazards identified?

On 31 March 2022, the Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws replaced the health and safety elements of the Mines Safety and Inspection laws. For information visit www.demirs.wa.gov.au/whs

Transitional arrangements may be in place for the compliance requirements on this page.

All health and safety notifications, forms and guidance for mining and petroleum has moved to the WorkSafe website

Hazard identification

The first step in risk management is to identify workplace hazards. This means looking for those things that have the potential to cause harm. Harm can be short or long term and may adversely affect the health and safety of personnel, property, the environment, and community relationships.

Hazards can be identified through one or more of the following activities:

  • routine hazard and housekeeping inspections and audit activities
  • study of information provided by manufacturers and suppliers of equipment and substances
  • investigation of incidents and accidents
  • accessing learnings from external safety alerts, including the department’s significant incident reports and safety bulletins
  • as part of the change management process for introduction of new equipment or processes, and changes to existing equipment or processes
  • as part of the review process for existing plans and procedures.

Documentation in hazard register

Once hazards have been identified, it is important that they are documented appropriately in order to manage the controls effectively over time.

Mining operations may use registers to assist in maintaining the integrity of the risk management process. The hazard register should serve as a live reference to assist in the development of job safety analyses (JSAs) or other task-based risk assessments.

Hazard register tool

This hazard register presents the findings from the department's investigations into 64 fatal mining accidents in the Western Australian mining industry over the period January 2000 to December 2015.

This data should be used by employers and workers to assist in the development of safe work practices on mining operations. All responsible persons should carefully evaluate their safety systems and risk management processes to ensure that hazards with the potential to cause fatal accidents are highlighted in training and supervision documents. Precautions and critical controls should then be built into the systems of work.

The Hazard register for Western Australian mining fatalities is not intended to be the sole source of information for developing site-specific hazard registers.

For more information on how to use the hazard register please refer to How to navigate and use the Hazard register for Western Australian mining fatalities guide.

How to navigate and use the hazard registers - guide - 784 Kb

Handy information on how to use and navigate the Hazard registers for Western Australian mining fatalities, serious injuries and other serious incidents investigations

Hazard register for all Western Australian mining fatalities from January 2000 to December 2018 - 276 Kb

This hazard register presents the findings from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety's investigations into 71 fatal mining accidents in the Western Australian mining industry over the period January 2000 to December 2018.

Related information

The toolbox presentations listed below include information on hazard identification.

Hazard identification - what to look for (2008) - 15537 Kb

This toolbox presentation contains information about hazard indentification for the inspectorate's perspective and a summary of common hazards.

Improving hazard awareness - lifting the game (2014) - 7168 Kb

This toolbox presentation looks at resources to raise awareness of lifting and rigging issues. This includes stored energy, gravitational potential energy and issues relating to mechanical handling.