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Guidance on WHS (MPS) laws

Guidance on the laws

The NSW Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Act 2013 and NSW Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Regulation 2022 align specific mine safety laws with general work health and safety laws. They also provide a single legislative framework for the regulation of safety in mines and petroleum sites in all sectors (e.g. coal, metalliferous and extractive).

More detailed information, including guides, factsheets, information and position papers can be found  on the Legislation guidance page.

Consultation arrangements

The WHS (Mines and Petroleum Sites) laws build on the general requirements in the WHS legislation for consultation with workers as well as the requirement for consultation, cooperation and coordination between persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU). For further information, the consulting workers fact sheet (PDF, 114.21 KB) provides guidance on requirements for consulting workers in the mining industry across the general and mining WHS laws.

Contractors

The WHS (Mines and Petroleum Sites) laws make particular provision for contractors at mines. Read the guide about contractors and other businesses at mines and petroleum sites (PDF, 169.82 KB) for more information.

Safety and health representatives in coal mines

Safety and health representatives (SHRs) are representatives of workers’ health and safety interests in the coal industry. SHR arrangements only apply to coal mines, they do not apply to coal exploration sites if this is the only activity occurring.

Please read the fact sheet about safety and health representatives (PDF, 93.9 KB) for more information.

Statutory functions

Schedule 10 of the WHS (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Regulation 2022 identifies 'statutory functions' at mines. Only people meeting specified requirements are eligible to be nominated by the mine operator to exercise a statutory function.

The guide statutory functions (PDF, 227.2 KB) provides information about statutory functions and includes tables that set out the following for each class of mine:

  • the title and description of each function
  • whether a practising certificate is required to perform that function
  • proposed eligibility for requirements for performing the function (including eligibility to obtain a practising certificate). Note that these matters will be addressed by a gazette order.

The mine record

The operator of a mine or petroleum site must keep a record for the mine or petroleum site. The requirements for the mine or petroleum site record can be found in section 129 and 130 of the Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Regulation 2022. These provisions set out what must be included in the record, how long it must be kept and requirements for providing access to it.

The fact sheet - Mine or petroleum site record (PDF, 135.91 KB) provides guidance on keeping a mine record.

Tourist mines

A tourist mine, as defined in the WHS (MPS) Act, is a mine at which:

  • no mining operations are carried out other than those associated with educational, or tourism pursuits carried out in connection with former mining activities at the mine
  • there is a principal hazard that was also present at the mine when former mining activities were carried out.

For more information on what the requirements are for operating a tourist mine under the WHS (Mines and Petroleum Sites) legislation, refer to the tourist mines webpage.

Mining exploration

The WHS (MPS) legislation applies to activities carried out for the purposes of exploring for minerals (including coal). Our exploration health and safety webpage contains more information.

Opal and gemstone mining

The WHS (MPS) legislation applies to activities carried out for the purposes of extracting minerals, including opals. The laws don't apply to an activity carried out in relation to fossicking or the extraction of minerals on private land for private and non-commercial use by the owner of the land. Refer to our opal mining WHS webpage for further information.

Incidents and injuries

There are two types of incidents that require information to be given to the Regulator - notifiable incidents and 'other' incidents. Requirements to notify the Regulator may relate to any person – whether an employee, contractor or member of the public. Failure to notify is an offence and penalties apply. The notification of incident and injury guide (PDF, 238.52 KB) provides further information.

High risk activities

The high-risk activities scheme under the WHS (MPS) legislation allows the Regulator to review the arrangements for proposed high-risk activities to assess the adequacy of the planning and controls. However, the scheme does not require the Regulator to approve activities and the responsibility for ensuring that activities are conducted safely remains with the mine or petroleum site operator.

A mine or petroleum site operator is prohibited from undertaking high-risk activities unless they have notified the Regulator of the proposed high-risk activity and the waiting period for that activity has expired (unless the Regulator has waived or reduced the waiting period). For more information, see the Notifying the regulator of a high risk activity guide (PDF, 306.72 KB).

Managing risk

Persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs), including mine and petroleum sites operators and contractors, have a primary duty to ensure the health and safety of workers they engage, or whose work activities they influence or direct. This includes managing risks. The managing risks in mining or petroleum operations guide provides more information.