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Regulator joins a central agency dedicated to regional issues
Last Thursday the Deputy Premier announced the creation of the Department of Regional NSW (DRNSW). The newly formed department brings together the NSW Resources Regulator, Primary Industries, Local Land Services, Resources and Geoscience and regional coordination across government to form a central agency dedicated to regional issues.
The role, functions and direction of the Regulator remain unchanged. The leadership team at the Regulator is still in place and remains committed to continuing to work collaboratively with all our stakeholders into the future. Importantly we will continue to maintain our independence as a standalone regulator and remain separated from the industry development functions of DRNSW.
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Changes to the Regulator Portal
The Regulator Portal has undergone some modifications. Changes include:
- General - When logging in you will notice the changes to the Portal layout, improved search functionality and additional widgets that have been added to simplify the management of tasks and records raised by your mining operations site.
- User Management – Administrator functionality will allow a site to nominate an administrator. The nominated administrator will be able to manage other portal users and add roles/statutory functions for their site.
- Notification of other matter, statutory notifications and Survey Plans to be submitted electronically.
These changes will be available from Sunday 12 April 2020.
For a full overview of the changes to the Regulator Portal click the link below.
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Written and oral examinations postponed
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We have postponed all scheduled written and oral examinations until further notice because of COVD-19 restrictions. Please note, it is a postponement and the exams will be rescheduled, taking into account any further response to COVID-19.
Candidates who have registered for the written or oral examination have been notified. Further information will be provided on rescheduled dates once known.
We encourage applicants to apply by the advertised closing dates, however, given the postponement of exams, we will continue taking applications until new dates are confirmed, after which closing dates will be reviewed and applied.
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Closing date extended to 1 May 2020.
The public consultation period for the Review of the Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Laws commenced on 1 March 2020 and will now close at the new date of 1 May 2020.
Further information regarding your involvement, access to the discussion paper and instructions on how to make a submission are available on our website. Updates will be published on our website and via Mine Safety News.
If you have any questions about the statutory review, please contact the Manager Regulatory Policy via email or call 1300 814 609.
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Latest Business activities report
Our latest Business activities report indicates almost 85% of the site assessments we conducted in February this year were proactive. For more data, details and insights visit our online Business activities reports page.
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Dust safety in metals and extractives industries
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We have recently published the 2nd edition of the Dust safety in metals and extractives industries booklet. The booklet provides information to help understand the risks and measures required to minimise exposure to respirable dust, respirable crystalline silica, and inhalable dust.
Mine operators must minimise the exposure of workers to dust and ensure workers are not exposed to dust concentrations exceeding the prescribed standards.
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Measures implemented must follow the hierarchy of controls: elimination, substitution, engineering, administrative and personal protective equipment (PPE). PPE is a last line of defence against exposure and should not be relied upon as a primary control measure.
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Non-work related fatality
On 15 November 2019 a 35-year-old worker was found unresponsive inside a rubber-tyred dozer at Bulga Surface Operations. Despite the efforts of his co-workers and paramedics, the worker was unable to be revived.
We investigated the incident and consider the death of the worker to be non-work-related.
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Safety inspection assessment resources
We have updated our COVID-19 webpage with new resources following a request from industry to share the assessment templates we are now using for safety inspections.
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Mental Safety App update!
In 2019, Bloomfield created the Mental Safety App as part of a WHS undertaking to focus on mental safety before, during and after a serious incident.
To help manage mental health during the efforts to minimise the impacts of COVID-19, Bloomfield has updated the Mental Safety App to provide the Group’s employees, their families, the industry and the broader community.
The app has introduced a new category specifically dedicated to COVID-19. All the information is vetted by professionals in the field and will be updated as more information is identified.
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Safe Work Australia
COVID-19 Information for workplaces
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Australia is continuing to closely monitor the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19). Cases of the COVID-19 virus are increasing in Australia and the situation is changing rapidly. You can access the latest information from australia.gov.au.
The Prime Minister, the Hon Scott Morrison MP, has advised that employers should allow workers to work from home wherever and whenever they can. Information and resources to help minimise the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in your workplace and help limit the spread are available at the Safe Work Australia website.
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In March 2020, Safe Work Australia paused the release and public consultation for the workplace exposure standards (WES) review until further notice.
During this period of pause, you can continue to submit your comments for all current and previous releases via our dedicated inbox WESconsult@swa.gov.au. Please indicate the chemical/s that you are providing feedback for and whether your feedback is for yourself or on behalf of your organisation.
Information about the revised timeframes for completing the WES review will be communicated as soon as possible.
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