Public consultation

Following a recommendation from the Queensland Mines Inspectorate, a Recognised Standard Tripartite Working Group (RSTWG) was formed to review the Recognised Standard for underground electrical equipment and electrical installations (RS01).

Submissions from industry were received through two consultation periods: 4 November 2022 to 16 December 2022 and 24 April 2023 to 25 May 2023. The RSTWG has now considered all of the feedback and will submit the draft RS01 to the Coal Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee (CMSHAC) for comment and then to the Minister for a decision.

Following a recommendation from the Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry, a Recognised Standard Tripartite Working Group (RSTWG) was formed to review the Recognised Standard for control of risk management practices (RS02).

Submissions from industry were received through two consultation periods: 7 June 2023 to 6 July 2023 and 11 October 2023 to 6 November 2023. The RSTWG has now considered all of the feedback and will submit the draft RS02 to the Coal Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee (CMSHAC) for comment and then to the Minister for a decision.

Following a recommendation from the Queensland Mines Inspectorate, a Recognised Standard Tripartite Working Group (RSTWG) was formed to review the Recognised Standard for tyre, wheel and rim management (RS13).

Submissions from industry were received through two consultation periods: 23 June 2023 to 1 August 2023 and 22 November 2023 to 21 December 2023. The RSTWG has now considered all of the feedback and will submit the draft RS13 to the Coal Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee (CMSHAC) for comment and then to the Minister for a decision.

Following a recommendation from the Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry, the Recognised Standard Tripartite Working Group (RSTWG) has formed to draft the Recognised Standard (RS) for spontaneous combustion management in underground coal mines.

Feedback was received from stakeholders between 21 September 2023 and 27 October 2023. The RSTWG has considered this feedback and is now requesting further feedback and comments from industry stakeholders on the revised draft by 31 May 2024.

Recognised Standard for spontaneous combustion management in underground coal mines

Resources Safety and Health Legislation Amendment Bill 2023

This Bill includes proposed legislative amendments for the Queensland government approved policy position established in the Decision Regulatory Impact Statement (DRIS).

Consultation on the draft bill has now closed.

Having considered advice received from the Coal Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee, the Minister for Resources has determined not to proceed with the following proposals:

• Site senior executive (SSE) for an underground coal mine to hold a first-class certificate of competency (Clause 22 and 26 of the Bill)
• SSE for a surface coal mine to hold a surface mine manager certificate of competency (Clause 22 and 26 of the Bill); and
• the establishment of site safety and health committees for coal mines (Clause 50 of the Bill)

Stakeholder submissions on other proposals are currently under review.

Resources Safety and Health Queensland (RSHQ) is reviewing the Competency standard for petroleum and gas well drilling and well servicing to ensure its relevance and effectiveness within the industry.

RSHQ has appointed a team from the University of Queensland led by Professor Maureen Hassall to facilitate the next stages of the review process.

Next steps for the team are:

• Assessing stakeholder feedback to the discussion paper
• Conducting a literature review
• Developing a maturity model for regulators of worker safety and health at drilling and well servicing rigs

This information will inform a series of industry workshops proposed for November 2023.

What’s happened so far:

A discussion paper was published in late July 2023. Feedback was sought from interested parties including:

• rig workers and supervisors
• holders of petroleum tenure
• operators of drilling operating plant (drilling and well servicing contractors)
• training professionals who conduct drilling and well servicing related training under the Resources and Infrastructure Industry training package.

Eleven submissions were received. One respondent asked for their submission not to be published. The remaining 10 submissions can be accessed here.

Should you have any inquiries or require further information regarding the competency framework review, please email gasSafe@rshq.qld.gov.au.

RSHQ is seeking feedback from chest X-ray providers and radiologists on the draft revised Standards for acquiring digital chest radiography images for medical surveillance of Queensland mine and quarry workers (Chest X-ray standards).

The Chest X-ray standards were developed in 2017, in response to the re-identification of mine dust lung disease. The draft revised Chest X-ray standards incorporate technological advances and learnings from various audits, updated legislation and standards, and stakeholder feedback received since initial implementation, including:

• Inclusion of mineral mine and quarry workers, who must undergo respiratory health surveillance, including a chest X-ray performed in accordance with the Chest X-ray standards, under the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Regulation 2017.
• Updated references to the latest versions of the RANZCR Standards of Practice for Clinical Radiology and the International Labour Organisation Guidelines for the use of the ILO International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses 2022.
• Requirement to use digital radiography (DR) imaging equipment.
• Removal of information that is only relevant to computed radiography imaging equipment not for DR imaging equipment, for example, certain equipment terminology, maintenance requirements, quality checks and techniques.
• Clarification that chest X-ray images should be ILO quality 1 or 2, as determined in the single final ILO Classification report, that has included the chest X-ray image being read by at least two NIOSH certified B-Readers.
• Additional information on common image quality issues, including example chest X-ray images.

You are invited to provide feedback on the draft revised Chest X-ray standards by email to minershealth@rshq.qld.gov.au. Responses are due by 5pm 11 August 2023.

For further information or enquiries, please email minershealth@rshq.qld.gov.au.

RSHQ has sought feedback from stakeholders on options to clarify obligations to manage psychosocial hazards in the Queensland resources industry.

A discussion paper was released on 30 June 2023 outlining three potential options:

1. Amend Queensland’s resources safety and health legislation to clarify operators’ obligations to manage risks emerging from psychosocial hazards.
2. No change to the existing legislation
3. Non-regulatory option (e.g., possible guidance via a non-statutory guideline)

Consultation closed on Friday 4 August 2023 with sixteen submissions received. Two respondents requested for their submission to not be published. The remaining 14 submissions can be accessed here.

For further information or enquiries, please email minershealth@rshq.qld.gov.au.