A new report from the New South Wales Resources Regulator has revealed an increase in reported safety incidents at large mines, but small mines are setting a trend for a major reduction in injuries.
The quarterly safety report aims to provide a snapshot that employers can use when reviewing safety management systems and undertaking risk assessments at their sites.
The report details incidents and trends relating to hazard management, in addition to sector specific information.
As a high-hazard regulator, the NSW Resources Regulator focuses on compliance with legislative requirements associated with principal and other high-risk hazards.
Its scope includes the safety performance of six sectors: coal, large (non-coal) mines and quarries, small mines and quarries (including gemstones), opal mines, petroleum and geothermal sites, and exploration sites.
Hazards that feature regularly in incident notifications to the Regulator include:
- roads or other vehicle operating areas
- fires or explosions
- air quality or dusts and other airborne contaminants.
In this quarter, there were a total of 590 incident notifications received – an 11 per cent increase from the same period in 2023–24 financial year and 14 per cent increase from the previous quarter.
Incident notifications increased for coal mines (16 per cent) and large mines (11 per cent) compared to the previous quarter.
Conversely, the small mines sector saw a 21 per cent decrease of notified incidents.
Assessments decreased by six per cent overall this quarter, although proactive desktop assessments increased by 26 per cent. Decreases were seen in every sector except opal mines and exploration sites.
Safety notices increased markedly this quarter from 432 to 779 (180 per cent). This was predominantly led by an increase in s191 improvement notices issued (from 257 to 528), which require a worker or employer to remedy a contravention to the Work Health and Safety Act 2022 – Sect 191.
Of the 590 incident notifications received by the NSW Regulator, only 41 were considered serious illness or injuries.
Another 40 were for the medical treatment of injury or illness and a larger portion were only ‘potentially’ dangerous situations where no one was injured.
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