Review safety management system and safety assessments

Background

The safety management system is a comprehensive and integrated risk management system that governs how operators manage risks to health and safety at a mine. Operators of prescribed mines must establish and implement a safety management system which includes doing a comprehensive and systematic safety assessment for each of the major mining hazards identified at a mine site.

Safety assessments are used to assess the risks, and identify the control measures, associated with a major mining hazard. They must involve an investigation and analysis of the major hazards to provide the mine operator with a detailed understanding of all aspects of the associated risks.

A safety assessment is an integral part of a mine's safety management system. It requires a thorough, systematic and documented investigation with the aim of understanding all aspects of risks associated with a major mining hazard, and must include consultation with employees.

A ‘major mining hazard’, means a mining hazard that has the potential to cause an incident that would cause, or pose a significant risk of causing, more than one death.

The OHS Regulations (Regulation 400) outlines all relevant mining hazards. When completing a safety assessment, prescribed mine operators should refer to this list when determining what major mining hazards are present at an operation. Major mining hazards may be individual hazards or hazards occurring in combination.

When to review

The operator of a prescribed mine must review, and if necessary, revise the mine’s safety management system at least once every 3 years, as well as:

• before any mine modification is made
• after any incident involving a mining hazard occurs at the mine.

Review of the mine’s safety management system includes review of documented major mining hazard safety assessments.

Mine modification

A mine modification means a change to any workings, processes or plant at a mine that:

• creates a mining hazard that has not previously been identified, or
• increases the risk associated with a mining hazard.

A mine modification includes the introduction of new workings, processes or plant at a mine.

What happens when you update control measures

It is important to revise the major mining hazard safety assessment when new or updated control measures are identified and implemented.

To assist in managing control measures, you may record:

• by what mechanism mine personnel will know that the control measure will work when required
• the type of test, inspection or audit undertaken to measure effectiveness of the control measure
• the frequency of testing, inspections or auditing of the control measure, and
• performance standards against which effectiveness of the control measure is assessed.

A safety assessment is only useful if it remains up-to-date and reflects operational practice.

Control measure management

The operator of a prescribed mine must test all risk control measures implemented to control major mining hazards. Testing of control measures must be undertaken as often as necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, they eliminate any risks associated with mining hazards at the mine. If it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate a risk, an operator must reduce the risk so far as reasonably practicable.

Legal duties

Employers have responsibilities under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act) to ensure they provide and maintain a work environment that is safe and without risks to health, so far as is reasonably practicable. The OHS Regulations require mine operators to identify and eliminate any risks associated with mining hazards. Where the risk cannot be eliminated, it must be reduced as so far as it is reasonably practicable.

Specific duties under the OHS Act include to:

• provide and maintain a working environment, including fit for purpose plant and systems of work, that is safe and without risks to the health of employees and contractors
• where a risk cannot be eliminated, reduce the risk so far as is reasonably practicable
• provide the necessary information, instruction, training or supervision, including how to identify hazards and control risks, to enable employees to do their work in a way that is safe and without risks to health
• consult with employees, contractors and health and safety representatives, where present, when identifying hazards and risks
• consult with employees, contractors and health and safety representatives, where present, when implementing controls to eliminate hazards and risks or, where not reasonably practicable to do so, control them
• review and revise any measure implemented to control risk
• wherever reasonably practicable higher order controls such as elimination, substitution and engineering must be implemented.