IMPROVING HEALTH AND SAFETY HAZARD MANAGEMENT IN THE UNDERGROUND MINING INDUSTRY
INTRODUCTION
The mining industry is an important part of New Zealand's economy. The Department of Labour is currently reviewing how hazards are managed in underground coal and metalliferous mines. We need your help to ensure we have a skilled workforce in safe, healthy and productive workplaces.
We would like to work with you to make underground mines safer places to work.
Existing regulatory framework
The underground mining industry is governed by the Health and Safety in Employment (HSE) Act 1992 and associated regulations.
The HSE Act places a broad duty on all workplaces to have effective systems to identify and manage hazards. Where a hazard is significant, the workplace must take all practicable steps to eliminate, isolate or minimise the hazard.
The main regulations for underground mining are the HSE (Mining - Underground) Regulations 1999 and the HSE (Mining Administration) Regulations 1996.
The Mining Underground Regulations describe processes for managing hazards in underground coal and metalliferous mines to prevent harm. For example the regulations require:
- plans of mines and tunnels
- an operations record to be kept that records measurements, readings, misfires and other items
- a record of employees working underground
- the examination of the mines and tunnels by a competent person
- testing of flammable gas, advance holes, holing into old workings, ventilation, air quality, equipment and so on.
The Mining Administration Regulations set out the different levels of managerial competency required to work in an underground mine. The HSE (Mining Administration) Regulations also set out the competencies required for workers performing specific tasks (for example, gas testing).
The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Regulations are also applicable to the use of explosives in underground mines, for example, misfires are addressed in regulation 33 of the Hazardous Substances (Classes 1 to 5 Controls) Regulations 2001.
What is the problem?
There are an estimated four to six underground coal mines currently operating in New Zealand, with around 300-350 employees. There are also three underground metalliferous mines currently operating.
Underground mining is an inherently hazardous industry with the potential for catastrophic incidents, as evidenced by recent fatalities. Good health and safety practices are crucial, as people's lives depend on them.
On-site competency is essential, as the variety of engineering and geological hazards faced by workers in the underground mining industry distinguishes it from many other industries.
In the five-year period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2005, the Department of Labour received 51 notifications of serious harm to employees working in underground mines.
In 2006, the ACC incidence rate (claims per 1,000 FTEs) for mining was 165, with 1,000 claims. This includes both above-ground and underground mining. Only agriculture, forestry and fishing had a higher rate of 177, with 22,800 claims. In 2005, mining had the highest incidence rate of all industries with 198 ACC claims per 1,000 FTEs, with 1,100 claims. The injury and fatality rate of 0.9 per 1,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees has remained stable over the past 10 years.
An analysis of hazard management in the underground mining industry has identified the following concerns:
▪ The ways hazards are managed varies across workplaces. There is little process-based prescription to support either the general duties of the HSE Act, or the more generic processes of the Health and Safety in Employment (Mining - Underground) Regulations 1999 (Mining Underground Regulations).
▪ The Mining Underground Regulations are performance-based, so some mines, particularly smaller mines, may have trouble deciding how best to comply. The lack of compliance suggests the regulatory framework is not as efficient or effective as it could be.
▪ A lack of procedural guidance around employee participation in the underground mining industry leaves employee participation potentially open to commercial pressures and day-to-day worksite management decisions.
▪ Smaller underground mines may have a manager in charge who holds a lesser qualification than a larger mine manager in charge would hold. This situation may not be adequate, given that the hazards requiring management in an underground mining environment are generally unrelated to the number of people employed on the site.
▪ The tight labour market means fewer workers experienced in hazard management are available.
What is this paper about?
The Department of Labour wants your views on what will help the underground mining industry identify and manage hazards effectively and create safe and healthy workplace systems, cultures and practices.
We want to achieve the right mix of regulatory and other changes to improve the ways hazards are identified and managed. This document sets out a range of high-level approaches for achieving this.
We will use your feedback to advise the government on the best mix of approaches and options to improve the ways hazards are identified and managed.