Health monitoring at mines

Health monitoring employees

Under regulation 411 of the OHS Regulations, mine operators must arrange for the ongoing health monitoring of any employee or independent contractor who:

• is exposed to a mining hazard that could have an adverse effect on their health
• has a medical condition that exposes them, or any other person at the mine, to a risk to health and safety

If the health monitoring includes a medical examination, this must be conducted:

• only in relation to the employee's work
• by, or supervised by, a registered medical practitioner
• at a frequency determined in consultation with a registered medical practitioner

Report on health monitoring

This refers to Regulation 412, which is a duty for operators of any mine.

Under regulation 412 of the OHS Regulations, you must ensure that whoever conducts the health monitoring prepares a report of the monitoring that includes:

• an explanation of the results
• any indication of adverse health effects
• any recommended measures that should be taken by the operator

You must also:

• obtain a copy of the report
• provide a copy to the employee to which it relates as soon as possible

Return report to a person who ceases work at the mine

If you have a copy of a health monitoring report on a person who subsequently ceases work at the mine, this report must be returned to them pursuant to regulation 414 of the OHS Regulations.

Notifying WorkSafe about ill health

Under regulation 413 of the OHS Regulations, a mine operator must notify WorkSafe in writing if:

• a health monitoring report you receive indicates adverse health effects, and
• as a result of the report, you remove or reassign an employee from their work