legislation updates

1. Small Mines Roadshow 2020
October – December 2020
Legislation updates

2. • Legislation Amendments
• Introducing the Tier 1, 2 and 3 classification levels
• How the Risk Profiling Tool works
• What is a Tier 3 mine
• Tier 3 mines & Health and Safety Reports
• Quarry Managers for the 3 Tier levels
• Changes to obtaining a Practising Certificate
• How the “competent person as a quarry manager for 2 months” exemption works
Topics

3. Legislation amendments
Additional notification of certain incidents
• additional incidents have been added to WHSMPS Clause 128(5):
• (t) an uncontrolled fire on mobile plant that is in operation (whether operated directly,
remotely or autonomously)
• (u) a loss of control of heavy earthmoving machinery that is operated remotely or
autonomously, including any failure in braking or steering
Duty to notify regulator of other matters – clause 129
• Clause 129 has been amended to
• remove the requirement to give the regulator at least one month’s notice before
operations at a mine commence, and to
• no longer require the coordinates of exploration drill holes.
(This change means notice is only required before mining operations commence,
whereas before you had to give 1 month's notice.)

4. Work health and safety reports – clause 130 Clause
• 130 has been amended to remove the reference to ‘quarterly’ and to refer only to
work health and safety (WHS) reports.
(This means mine operators only have to provide WHS reports once per financial year.)
BUT – there has been an exemption published for some small mines.
Legislation amendments

5. This Exemption applies to a mine operator of a mine other than a coal mine.
The mine operator is exempt from the requirements of clause 130 of the Regulation to give the regulator a
work health and safety report if:
• the total number of hours (including additional shifts and overtime) worked at the mine by workers is less
than 10,000 hours during the reporting period as specified by the regulator, or
• exploring for minerals is the only mining operations carried out at the mine during the reporting period as
specified by the regulator.
The Resources Regulator published an exemption on 27th May 2020 for some
small mines from having to submit an Annual Safety Report.
Legislation amendments

6. Clause 3 Definitions - Updated definitions of ‘Wiring Rules’ applying new standard
AS/NZS 3000:2018 Electrical installations to mines and petroleum sites.
• Clause 32(2)(a) requires compliance to the Wiring Rules, and clause 3 defines what the Wiring
Rules are. It previously defined it as the 2007 version.
Legislation amendments
Clause 39 - Imposes a workplace exposure standard of 0.1 milligram per cubic
metre of air for diesel particulate matter at mines and petroleum sites.
• A 12-month transitional period is provided to give industry the necessary time to adapt to the
new requirement, ending on 31 January 2021
Clause 143 - Make it an offence for holders of practising certificates and licences to fail to
comply with conditions imposed on those practising certificates and licences.
• (This is to enable a more effective mechanism for the regulator to enforce compliance with low-level
breaches without suspending or cancelling a practising certificate. Previously the only options were
suspension or cancellation.)

7. What is a Tier 3 Mine?
On 27 March 2020 an exemption was published in the Government Gazette, titled:
The exemption defined:-
 What a Tier 3 mine is,
 What parts of the legislation a Tier 3 mine is exempt from, and
 Provided interpretations on terms used in the exemption (such as “competent
person”, “FTE”, “qualified”, “unqualified”, “tier-3” and “quarry manager”).

8. Tier 1, 2 & 3 Mines – What are they?
• A system to group extractive mines (not coal)
according to their hazard burden
Medium Hazard
Burden
Tier 2
Low Hazard Burden
Tier 3
4,367 (Open & Intermittent)
High
Hazard
Burden
Tier 1
16

9. Tier 1, 2 & 3 Mines – How do we assess them?
NO
Underground? YES Tier 1
NO
Carry out a Risk Profile assessment
Is it
Coal?
YES Tier system does not
apply to coal

10. Risk Profiling Tool
This tool was developed to rank a mine based on:
• The nature and complexity of operations at the mine,
• Whether explosives are used, and
• Level of complexity of electricity used, and
• An assessment of Principal Hazards on site and the exposure to the number of
workers, and
• Staffing and output levels.
It generates a numeric output, which then dictates what Tier level the mine is.

11. Risk Profiling Tool

18. Tier 2
Tier 1
Review by
P. Inspector
Gives a Score
90 ± 5<85 >95
YOUR MINE
Start the Risk Profile
Does the mine:
 have >5 FTE employees?
 carryout blasting?
 is a dredge?
 extract >30,000 m3 pa
NO
Tier 3
YES
Complete Risk
Profile

19. What is a Tier 3 Mine?
What exactly is a Tier 3 Mine?
 Has 5 or less workers (FTE- Full Time Equivalent), including the quarry manager
and contractors, AND
 Does not carry out blasting (explosives) activities, AND
 Does not carry out dredging activities, AND
 Does not extract more than 30,000 cubic metres of extractive material for sale
or reuse per year.
If your mine complies with ALL of the limits above, then IT IS a Tier 3 Mine.
(Ask yourself – am I a tier 3 mine?)

20. Tier 3 Mines & Health and Safety Report?
 Recall the legislation update that exempts a mine operator from submitting a
Work Health and Safety Report if the total number of hours (including
additional shifts and overtime) worked at the mine by workers is less than
10,000 hours during the reporting period.
 One of the conditions of being a Tier 3 mine is it must have 5 or less than FTE
workers.
 There is a link here: 1 worker is deemed to work 2,000 hrs per year
5 x FTE workers = 5 x 2000 hrs = 10,000 hrs.
 Therefore a Tier 3 mine is exempt from submitting an annual Work Health and
Safety Report.

21. Quarry Managers for Tier 1, 2 & 3 Mines
MINE TIER LEVEL
1 2 3
Must nominate a Quarry Manager? Yes Yes Yes
Are qualifications required? Yes
Practising Certificate &
Certificate of Competence
Yes 1
Practising certificate
No 2
(Must be competent)
Be shown in management structure? Yes Yes Yes
Notification RR of nomination? Yes Yes No
Notify RR of changes to QM details? Yes Yes No
Notes
1. Transitional period to phase out examinations, and be based on experience and qualifications (later slide)
2. A Quarry Manager with a Practising Certificate can be the Quarry Manager of a Tier 3 mine

22. Tier 3 Quarry Manager
• Can be a holder of a practising certificate, or
• Can be a competent person.
The exemption defines a competent person as:
a person who has acquired through training, qualification or experience the
knowledge and skills to carry out the task of supervising mining operations at a
mine, other than an underground mine or a coal mine, having regard to the
location of the mine, the complexity of the mining operations at the mine and the
nature of the material mined.
If the operator is going to nominate a competent person as the Quarry Manager
they must assure themselves that the person is competent based on the
definition.

23. Practising Certificates
You need to hold a Practising Certificate to be the Quarry Manager of a Tier 1
or Tier 2 mine. To apply you need the following criteria. The conversion of
Production Manager Permits to Practising certificate ceased on 30
September 2020.
1 OngoingQM Certificate of Competency
2
(all quarries)
Experience and qualifications New & Ongoing
2
(specific
quarries)
Experience and examination Up to 30/9/22
Requirement for practising certificateTier Application process
If you go the experience and qualification pathway you can be the QM at any Tier 2 mine

24. What to do if Quarry manager is away
There is an exemption allows for:
• An unqualified person to be nominated as the quarry manager (i.e. no
practising certificate)
• And that an unqualified quarry manager may supervise mining operations
But there are restrictions and requirements:
• Must advise the Resources Regulator (using correct form)
• Can be no more than 2 months total in any calendar year
• Must provide evidence of competency to the regulator
• Must specify the dates a competent person will be nominated for

25. What to do if Quarry manager is away
Arrange for your
supervisor to fill
in for you
Does that person
have a practising
certificate?
NO
Operator utilises
the exemption to
nominate a
competent person
as quarry manager
YES
Operator
nominates that
person as Quarry
Manager
Operator notifies Resources
Regulator of the nomination,
using the “Quarry manager
class exemption” form
Operator notifies Resources
Regulator of the nomination,
clause 129 “Notification of
other matters” form
(i.e. a change)
N/A for a
Tier 3 Mine

26. Any
Questions ?
Legislation Updates
2020 Small Mines Roadshow