5/7/2018.
Subject: MBIE wants your feedback on our implementation review of the health and safety mining regulations
Hello from the Health and Safety Policy team at MBIE, we are seeking your feedback on the attached discussion document as part of our implementation review of the Health and Safety at Work (Mining Operations and Quarrying Operations) Regulations 2016 (the Mining Regulations).
Low key review:
This is a low-key review directed specifically a businesses, workers and other interested people and organisations in the mining, quarrying and construction tunneling sectors. It is one of the first priorities in MBIE’s ongoing health and safety regulatory work programme, and some information on the broader work programme is attached for your information.
You may be receiving this email direct from us, or you may be receiving it from MinEx, as we have accepted their invitation to send it out via their extensive mailing list. The main thing is that it gets to everyone that needs to know about it. Please do forward it on if you know of others potentially affected that may not have received it.
The review is testing whether the Mining Regulations are working as expected:
The review’s purpose is to test that the Mining Regulations are working as expected and to consider further regulation of quarries. It fulfils a commitment that the Government made to industry in 2013 to provide reassurance about the speed of developing major new regulations within a single year. It only covers potential adjustment to the Mining Regulations, not the Health and Safety at Work Act. And, it isn’t intending to re-open all the 2013 policy work that was based on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy.
The discussion document is focused on issues raised by industry:
The review focuses on responding to issues raised in mid-2017 with MBIE and WorkSafe by MinEx and the Aggregate and Quarrying Association (AQA). The attached discussion document is detailed but sets out the individual issues clearly, including explaining the policy intent and MBIE’s understanding of the MinEx and WorkSafe perspectives.
We want your feedback on the proposals and options. Please feel free to concentrate on those issues that are important to you. You’re not expected to comment on everything. Please also do tell us if we have missed anything. You can give us feedback by email at [email protected]
6 weeks consultation:
We are using email as the primary way of sending and receiving information. Let us know if this doesn’t work for you. We have allowed 6 weeks for consultation till Friday 17 August 2018 – but we are willing to extend that period if more time is needed to get it right.
We expect to send out further information if stakeholders raise some further interesting ideas during consultation, or if more detail is needed to help your consideration of the proposals. We won’t overwhelm you, and we’ll work with your advocacy groups (such as MinEx, AQA and E tū) to manage information flows and make feedback easier. We’re happy to hold meetings if requested.
We look forward to receiving your feedback.
Kind regards, MBIE Health and Safety Policy team
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment | Labour, Science and Enterprise Group
15 Stout St | PO Box 3705 | Wellington | New Zealand
Download H&S Regulations Reforms Programme 2017-2018
Download H&S Consultation document