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INDUSTRY SPIRIT
Building a resilient safety culture
MALCOLM RUSSELL
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
RESOURCES SAFETY
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Mechanical
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Engineering Studies
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Civil/Structural
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Piping
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Power and Electrical
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Instrumentation and Control
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Equipment Design, Specification
and Selection
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Drafting
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Value Engineering
www.mets.net.au
MINERAL ENGINEERING TECHNICAL SERVICES
Engineering Design
Expertise in multi-discipline
design and plant layout
qualifications and standards, and a multidisciplinary team-
based structure integrated with safety compliance planning.
Resources Safety is now well placed to deliver leading
practice regulatory services and to support industry as it makes
the cultural changes necessary for improved safety performance.
Other key developments in the past year include surveying
stakeholders to establish a baseline against which to measure
reform progress, and running an inaugural industry workshop
seeking industry input on priority safety targets for mining and
workshops aimed at improving safety culture in the industry.
BASELINE SURVEY
An independent survey of the department’s mining, petroleum
and major hazard facility stakeholders was conducted in late
2010 to specifically determine the importance of the roles of
a safety regulator and how well Resources Safety performed
those roles; the perceptions of Resources Safety’s performance
when working with industry to reduce the likelihood and
consequences of serious incidents; and the perceptions of the
value that various initiatives from Resources Safety would add
to clients’ safety outcomes.
The survey also sought industry’s view of its own
performance in achieving “a proactive, consultative safety
culture” and how advanced it is in having the attributes of a
resilient safety culture.
The research results have been reviewed by Resources
Safety and were presented to the Ministerial Advisory Panel in
mid-2011. Also, action plans have been developed to address
concerns raised in the survey that are not already being
addressed as part of the safety reform process.
The industry survey will be conducted biennially to provide
ongoing evaluation of safety reform progress. Perceptions
should become more positive if Resources Safety’s strategies
are working.
INDUSTRY WORKSHOP
The inaugural annual industry workshop to discuss the safety
reform process and safety initiatives for mines safety was held
in mid-2011.
The ultimate objective for safety in the resources industry remains
achieving a ‘zero harm’ record, but achieving this requires the
active support and involvement of all government, community and
industry stakeholders.
The state government has aspirations for Western Australia
to be among the world’s best in terms of occupational safety and
health in the resources industry. Its safety reform agenda will
allow the Resources Safety Division of the Department of Mines
and Petroleum, under the stewardship of Executive Director
Malcolm Russell, to go beyond compliance monitoring to work
with industry to proactively support the establishment of resilient
safety cultures.
Much of the Resources Safety Division’s attention over the
past 12 months has focused on implementing the operational
improvements planned under the Reform and Development at
Resources Safety (RADARS) strategy, as well as maintaining its
compliance activities and a flow of information and guidance
material responding to industry needs.
Under RADARS, the Department of Mines and Petroleum
has addressed its workforce capacity and development
issues in mines safety by introducing performance-based
remuneration packages, a tailored competency-based training
and development program with nationally recognised