World Day for Safety and Health at Work is observed annually on 28 April by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and honours workers who died as a result of a work-related injury or illness. The day aims to raise awareness through its campaign to improve occupational safety and health (OSH) worldwide.
Every year the campaign continues to grow, with more participants taking the opportunity to improve organisational awareness and knowledge.
Australia’s second largest gold producer Northern Star Resources Ltd was fined a total of $150,000 in the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on 8 March 2021, after two workers were injured in a vehicle collision underground.
The incident occurred at Northern Star’s Millennium mine in Kalgoorlie in December 2017.
One of the workers lost control of a light truck while travelling downhill and steered into the mine wall to slow the vehicle. The worker and passenger suffered injuries from the collision.
Alcoa of Australia Ltd was today fined $210,000 in the Perth Magistrates Court and ordered to pay $75,000 in costs after a contractor fell to his death at the company’s Kwinana Alumina Refinery in 2015.
The contract worker was part of a crew removing scaffolding from inside a bank of processing vessels or ‘digesters’ which were offline for maintenance and refurbishment work.
The McGowan Government has made an important change to the workplace exposure standards for diesel particulate matter (DPM) that applies to all Western Australian mining operations.
Mine operators must now ensure DPM does not exceed 0.1 milligrams per cubic metre of air in the workplace.
DPM is a component of diesel engine exhaust which is a known health hazard for the mining industry, particularly underground mines.
While mine operators were previously encouraged to ensure DPM was kept as low as possible, compliance was voluntary.
L’Haridon Bight Mining Pty Ltd was fined $20,000 in the Perth Magistrates Court on 9 March 2021, after a worker was injured at the company’s Shell Beach Mine located 45km out of Denham in May 2017.
The worker suffered fractures, lacerations and burns after his arm was pulled into the tail-end pulley of a conveyor system of a shell-bagging machine.
The McGowan Government has taken steps to reduce the risk of workers contracting potentially deadly lung diseases by halving the workplace exposure standards for respirable crystalline silica (which causes silicosis) and respirable coal dust.
Safe Work Month is held in October each year and encourages employers and workers to promote positive work health and safety in the workplace. This year’s theme is “Staying focused on workplace health and safety”.
While 2020 has involved many challenges, Safe Work Month aims to remind industry and the community that the health and safety of Western Australian workers remains a priority.
The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) is working with key resources sector stakeholders to enable the agency to support the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regular meetings are being held with representative bodies including the Chamber of Minerals and Energy Western Australia, the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, and the Amalgamated Prospectors and Leaseholders Association to identify and discuss key priorities and emerging issues.
On 1 October 2019, amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996 (OSH Regulations) will come into effect. The amendments lower the blood lead removal level thresholds for workers and changes the definition of ‘lead-risk job’.
Lead stays in the blood for several months. It is important to take action now to ensure that when the new laws come into effect the blood lead levels of workers do not exceed the allowable level. When a worker’s blood lead levels exceed this the worker must be removed from lead-risk work.
WA’s Commission for Occupational Safety and Health is seeking public comment on the code of practice for workplace behaviour.
At the May meeting the Commission endorsed the draft workplace behaviour code of practice and agreed to a three-month public consultation period ending 30 August 2021.
The guidance in this draft code of practice should be considered in conjunction with the general duties in the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 and the draft Violence and aggression at work code of practice.
