Industry Safety News, June 2009

Posted in: Perspectives: Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Industry Safety News, June 2009

By Richard Michael, Chief Executive, Straterra

New Zealand is richly endowed with mineral wealth that provides enormous opportunities for a steep increase in this country’s economic growth.

The metallic mineral potential of New Zealand has an insitu value of more than $140 billion and great potential for the discovery of new oil and gas resources.

One only has to look to South Australia to see how enhancement of mineral wealth can boost prosperity - and the current New Zealand government has already taken steps to encourage exploration investment.

In order to make the most of our natural resources, we must have a strong and healthy industry which attracts high quality personnel.

In the past, extraction industries have not enjoyed the best reputation as a career option because of the public perception of them as a hazardous occupation.

Straterra, the industry group representing New Zealand’s natural resources industries, recognises that a healthy vibrant workforce is essential to continued success, development and increased economic prosperity.

Overall, the legislative changes and frameworks in New Zealand have been very successful across the board in reducing incidences of injury and death throughout all work environments.

The extractions industry has embraced those changes wholeheartedly, including instigating some of the most significant health and safety developments in the industry’s history.

Straterra was formed, following a strategic review of the minerals industry, to address the issues which restrict its potential to contribute to our economy.

The organisation strongly welcomes the work of the MinEx Health and Safety Council, established to develop New Zealand specific codes of practice for both surface and underground mining.

MinEx, which is chaired by Peter Atkinson of Heritage Gold NZ, was established in response to industry recognition of the need for an organisation specifically related to health and safety in mining in New Zealand.

Following rigorous research and consultation the codes were made available in document form and via an information website last year, providing a vital resource, particularly for smaller businesses.

While large mining companies have dedicated health and safety personnel, some small quarrying businesses or alluvial gold companies may have just a handful of staff altogether – but there is equal onus on them to have health and safety management plans in place.

Globally, there are international labour agreements regarding codes of practice for mining but these are generally too top heavy to be of use to small companies.

Australia has a long-standing health and safety document but there was nothing specific to New Zealand.

MinEx set out to create one document that would provide even the smallest businesses with easy access to high quality health and safety information.

The team that drew up the codes included two independent coordinators, and cross sector industry, EPMU union and New Zealand Contractors’ Federation representation.

Consultation across all sector groups took two years. The aims were to establish the basic operating principles for surface and underground mining and to provide guidelines and wide ranging health and safety information for people working in the business on a day to day basis.

Draft codes were sent out for peer review, including to several former Department of Labour inspectors of mines, and further suggestions were reviewed and incorporated.

Following industry-wide consultation, it was thoroughly assessed by legal experts before being made available for use.

A year on, feedback has been very good with further positive suggestions from the industry incorporated in a recent review.

Peter Atkinson is clear that the codes do not replace any company’s health and safety management systems but will help them manage their health and safety related processes and risks.

He says the codes are “dynamic rather than static” and will grow as further issues are identified.

They have not been submitted as ‘approved codes of practice’ under Section 20 of the Health and Safety in Employment Act but remain as an industry-agreed standard.

MinEx is also now developing a reliable health and safety statistical database to provide an accurate picture of the current overall health and safety performance of the industry, using information provided, on a strictly confidential basis, by industry members.

Eventually this will allow for benchmarking between New Zealand and other countries, allowing better monitoring of the industry’s health and safety performance.

MinEx has become a crucial part of the New Zealand Minerals industry and Straterra looks forward to working alongside the organisation in promoting the long term health and success of our sector.

For further details see www.straterra.co.nz and www.minex.org.nz

Richard Michael is Chief Executive of Straterra the industry group representing New Zealand’s natural resources industries