After years in the making, the new work health and safety (WHS) laws for the NSW mining industry – the Work Health and Safety (Mines) Act 2013 (NSW) and Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulation 2014 (NSW) (New Mining Laws) – will commence on 1 February 2015.
What does this mean?
The New Mining Laws will repeal and replace the existing Coal Mine Health and Safety Act 2002 (NSW) and the Mine Health and Safety Act 2004 (NSW) and the respective regulations. This means that coal mining and other mining in NSW, such as metalliferous mining, will now operate under the same legislative scheme for WHS. The existing Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) and Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (NSW) (WHS Laws) will continue to apply.
The purpose of the New Mining Laws is to improve the consistency of WHS requirements for mines and to implement reforms developed as part of the WHS harmonisation process. The New Mining Laws include provisions for:
- notification and functions of mine operators
- WHS representation/consultation with workers
- risk management and specific risk controls
- health monitoring
- mine survey plans, records, notifications and reporting
- statutory positions/functions, and
- licensing.
Who will be impacted?
Most mines, exploration activities and processing/treatment facilities will be impacted.
"Mining operations" is defined to include activities associated with extraction of, or exploration for, minerals and includes activities performed in connection with these. Exploration activities will be treated as a mining operation and will require notification of a mine operator and the implementation of a safety management system. Many provisions will apply to all mining operations, though specific additional risk controls have also been prescribed for underground mines, underground coal mines and coal mines.
What do I need to do?
Although many of the new requirements and approaches will be familiar to mine operations, the legislative schemes are different. All mine operations will need to carefully review the New Mining Laws to understand their obligations and implement necessary changes. Transitional provisions will allow mine operators some time to adjust to changes.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
