THE WA Department of Mines & Petroleum is holding workshops this week to consult over transitional arrangements to phase in the proposed Work Health & Safety (Resources and Major Hazards) Act and Regulations, which are yet to be finalised.

Details for two workshops tailored to petroleum/major hazard facilities and mining are:

Venue:	Department of Mines & Petroleum Koorling-Dandjoo International Conference Room Level 2, 1 Adelaide Terrace, East Perth
Date:	Thursday, 25 August 2016
Times:	Petroleum / major hazard facilities: 9am to 10.30am Mining: 10.30am – 12pm

To register your interest, please email your name, organisation and contact number, with which workshop you would like to attend, to [email protected]

Broader consultation underway

The workshops are part of consultation processes underway for two sets of workplace health and safety regulations in Western Australia that will impact on WA based operations.

AREEA seeks member feedback on the two reviews to help inform our submissions. The first is to the proposed Work Health & Safety Regulations (WA) for general industry. The second is to the proposed Work Health & Safety (Resources and Major Hazards) Regulations (WA) for safety in mining, petroleum and major hazard facilities (MHFs), for which the above workshops are relevant.

Work Health & Safety Regulations (WA)

The WA government has released a discussion paper to inform the finalisation of Work Health & Safety Regulations for general industry in WA.

The regulations will sit under the Work Health & Safety Bill (WA) which is also being finalised following consultation last year. The Act, once made, will provide the overarching duties of workplace participants in relation to health and safety in the workplace and will replace the Occupational Safety & Health Act 1984 (WA).

Detailed requirements about specific hazards will be provided in the Work Health & Safety Regulations (WA) which will replace the Occupational Safety & Health Regulations 1996 (WA).

While WA has committed in-principle to national harmonisation of work health and safety, it will deviate from the model WHS Act and Regulations implemented in other jurisdictions.

Key differences proposed in WA general safety regulations

WA has reviewed the model WHS regulations to see where they can be modified to minimise prescription and the compliance burden for WA operations.

Specifically, the model WHS regulations do not include some requirements currently contained in the OHS Regulations (WA) such as the prohibition of tobacco smoke in the workplace and commercial vehicle driver regulations. Those provisions will be included in the WA WHS regulations, according to the discussion paper released for consultation.

Some elements in the model WHS Regulations will not be included in the WA WHS regulations such as for mines, major hazard facilities and dangerous goods, given that these are subject to separate proposed legislation and regulations in WA that are currently being finalised (see below for details).

Specific amendments to the model WHS regulations that the discussion paper proposes for WA include to:

• Remove the requirement for training records to be retained after employment ceases;
• Remove reference to enforceable undertakings given exclusions from the WHS Bill (WA);
• Remove Part 2.4 from the Regulations relating to Workplace Entry by WHS Entry Permit Holders (WA has not included union entry rights in its WHS Bill and is instead pointing to the Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA) for entry rights for permit holders under WHS laws);
• Replace the requirement for HSR training with the equivalent of regulation 2.2 of the OSH regulations (WA);
• Include an English language requirement as part of the requirements for the conduct of a competency assessment;
• Remove the matters prescribed for the determination of work groups in model WHS regulations 16 and 17; and
• Require PCBUs to prepare procedures to effectively respond to an emergency.

There is also a raft of changes in the proposed WA WHS regulations relating to asbestos.

A full table of proposed amendments to the model WHS regulations is available at the back of the discussion paper.

The regulations are likely to take effect some time in 2017, with feedback sought on the discussion paper by 31 August 2016.

Click here for the discussion paper.

Work Health & Safety (Resources and Major Hazards) Regulations (WA)

Consultation is currently open for the proposed Work Health & Safety (Resources and Major Hazards) Regulations (WA).

Once finalised, those regulations will replace and consolidate current regulations for safety in mining, major hazard facilities (MHFs) and petroleum. The regulations and the legislation under which they are made are both expected to take effect on 1 July 2017.

Following an earlier consultation process on the proposed consolidation of the three areas, a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) has been released to assist with finalising the consolidated set of regulations.

“The proposed regulations have been simplified and significantly adapted from the model WHS regulations to ensure they are relevant to resources industry safety and minimise prescription,” the RIS says.

“Consolidating the current regulations into one set of regulations should also result in improved consistency between the various industry sectors and with operations regulated by Australian Government agencies.”

The proposed regulations are based broadly on the requirements of the national model WHS regulations and the draft mining regulations but have been modified to:

• Remove elements that are highly prescriptive;
• Focus on WA resources operations requirements; and
• Include sections that are specific to mining, petroleum and MHFs as well as geothermal energy and greenhouse gas storage.

Compared with current regulations covering safety in mining, major hazard facilities and petroleum, the RIS identifies the new regulations will entail:

• 33 key changes for mining;
• Six key changes for major hazard facilities; and
• 12 key changes for petroleum and pipeline sectors.

Submissions to the RIS are due by 9 September 2016. The regulations are expected to be finalised in late 2016.

Click here for further information.

To provide feedback or for more information, please contact AREEA principal adviser – workplace policy, Lisa Matthews on (03) 6270 2256 or via [email protected].