Australasian Mine Safety is the leading voice for all key decision makers within Mining company's and major contractors. Delivering the latest industry news as it breaks.
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Foreword Products and services banner FOREWORD The history of health and safety laws in Australia means that we have a range of general and industry-specifi c OHS laws in place across the country. Each state/ territory and the Commonwealth currently has separate laws for general OHS, with additional variations to safety laws related to electricity, rail and mines; just to name a few. T his owever, is all expected to change on 1 January 2012 Australia, with work progressing toward implementation of a nationally harmonised Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislative package (Act, Regulations and Codes of Practice) across all states and territories. Although it is expected that Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales will legislate for some additional requirements for the mining industry in their states, the core regulations applicable to mining will be consistent around the country, and consistent with the general WHS laws. The draft national rail safety laws, released for public comment in July 2011, indicate that a similar set of provisions will apply in these laws, further increasing the consistency between a broad range of intersecting industries. The Model WHS Bill, Regulations (excluding the mines chapter) and some key Codes of Practice have been endorsed by the Workplace Relations Ministers' Council and jurisdictions are now working through their local state/territory Parliamentary processes to have the laws in place by the end of this year. At the time of writing Queensland and New South Wales had passed their WHS Act and South Australia, the Commonwealth and the ACT had their Bills before Parliament. Released for public comment in August 2011, the Mines Regulations and Codes of Practice are the fi nal provisions to be considered for inclusion in harmonised laws. Key provisions of the laws require that: • A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable: • The health and safety of workers engaged by, or whose activities in carrying out work are infl uenced or directed by the person; and • That the health and safety of other persons is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the business or undertaking. • Offi cers exercise due diligence to ensure that the person conducting the business or undertaking complies with its duties and obligations. • If more than one person has a duty in relation to the same matter, each person must, so far as is reasonably practicable, consult, cooperation and coordinate activities with all other persons who have a duty in relation to the same matter. (Noting that the term person used as above is a legal concept that includes a corporation, and offi cers are those at the senior levels of the corporation.) Now is an ideal opportunity for organisations to use the new laws to review current approaches to managing WHS with a view to enhance performance – reducing the incidence of injuries, illness and fatalities and generally providing healthier and safer workplaces 2012 should be a great year for Work Health and Safety in Australia. The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) is a peak industry association in Australia which along with its affi liates represents the interests of more than 60,000 businesses who employ more than one million employees. It is an organisation committed to helping Australian industry with a focus on building competitive and sustainable industries through global integration, skills development, productive and fl exible workplace relations, infrastructure development and innovation. The organisation provides practical information, advicea and assistance to help members run their businesses more effectively. It ensures through policy leadership that members have a voice at all levels of government, by representing and promoting their interests on current and emerging issues. In her role as Manager, National OHS Policy and Membership Services, Tracey Browne has been a member of the tripartite group established by Safe Work Australia to oversee the development of the national harmonised WHS laws. 4 The Australasian Mine Safety Journal Spring 2011 tracey browne manager, national OHS policy and membership services