WA State Mining Engineer advice – COVID-19

Following confirmation of positive COVID-19 cases in the WA mining industry, to limit the spread of this infectious disease the State Mining Engineer is reminding all mining operations they are required to:

Appoint an “Infectious Diseases Manager”: This person should regularly check the Australian and WA Department of Health websites for up-to-date information on COVID-19 status, actions and restrictions and be able to verify the vaccination status of workers.

Implement an “Infectious Diseases Management Plan”: Applicable to the specific requirements of your site(s). In preparing this plan, consider the Department of Health’s information and recommendations in relation to mitigating the potential risk of exposure to COVID-19. For example, appropriate approach to social distancing in mess areas, mask wearing.

The plan should include how operations can safely continue if key personnel (people in statutory positions) undergo periods of isolation – reliance on the potential for an exemption from the Chief Health Officer is not an appropriate continuity response.

Sites should also ensure:

staff cooperate with and follow the directions of Department of Health officials, including contact tracers when required.
resource workers that work in rural and remote locations, remote operations centres and mission critical operational locations are fully vaccinated from 1 January 2022 in accordance with Public Health Direction issued 5 October 2021.
systems are in place to restrict access to Aboriginal communities to essential personnel only.
Consistent with maintaining a safe working environment, including one free of psychosocial hazards, consideration needs to be given to the impacts on the mental health of workers that could arise if isolation on site is required, or their roster is modified. More information is available online: COVID-19: Managing modified rosters and fatigue (dmp.wa.gov.au).

Reporting requirements for positive cases on mine sites
The presence of COVID-19 on a mine site has the potential to cause serious harm. Like other potentially serious occurrences, notification is required to DMIRS in accordance with section 79 of the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994. The following breakdown on when to report has been provided:

Must report

person(s) is on site, has positive test result (Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) or Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)) and may have interacted with other workers resulting in isolation of some or all of workforce on site – report as soon as known and provide details of the number of affected workers and actions taken and planned
person(s) has been on site in last seven days, has positive test result (RAT or PCR) and may have interacted with other site workers resulting in isolation of some or all of workforce offsite or on site – report as soon as known and provide details of the number of affected workers and actions taken and planned
Not reportable

person(s) has not yet mobilised to site, has positive test result (RAT or PCR) and is in isolation off site / under instruction from Department of Health and not permitted to attend site
person has not reported for work and has reported that they have “flu like” symptoms, they are isolating (either on site or off site) from others, they have not been tested or are awaiting test results

Vaccination status of WorkSafe Mines Safety inspectors
In accordance with the WA Government’s vaccination mandate for all frontline employees, all WorkSafe Mines Safety inspectors are required to be double vaccinated and booster vaccinated (after becoming eligible). DMIRS has implemented protocols to ensure that all inspectors meet this mandate.

Any WorkSafe Mines Safety inspector that attends a WA mine site will be in compliance with this requirement and as such further requests for vaccination status should not be required.

More information on mandatory vaccinations and Critical Government Regulators Directions is available at www.wa.gov.au

Verification of resource worker vaccination status
Several DMIRS inspectors have been authorised by the Chief Medical Officer for the purposes of determining compliance with the Resource Industry Worker (Restriction on Access) Directions (No 2). These officers are authorised to request information to verify resource worker vaccination status. Sites should have systems in place to verify compliance to facilitate a compliance audit.

Questions
Whilst compliance with the directions of the Department of Health officials is critical, it is important to remember these directions do not remove compliance requirements under the Mines Safety and Inspection Act. Inspectors will be paying particular attention to the steps being taken to ensure that the safety management systems are being adhered to and will take enforcement action if necessary.

If you have any questions please contact us on 1800SAFEMINE (1800 723 364).

Visit www.dmirs.wa.gov.au to learn more about us.

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