Western Australian Consolidated Acts

MINES SAFETY AND INSPECTION ACT 1994 - SECT 4

4 .         Terms used

        (1)         In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears —

        adit has the same meaning as tunnel ;

        alternate registered manager means an alternate registered manager for a mine appointed by the principal employer under section 34;

        apprentice means a person who is an apprentice under a training contract registered under the Vocational Education and Training Act 1996 Part 7 Division 2;

        assistant inspector means an assistant inspector of mines appointed under section 20;

        Australian Standard means a document having that title published by Standards Australia;

        Australian/New Zealand Standard means a document having that title published jointly by —

            (a)         Standards Australia; and

            (b)         the Standards Council of New Zealand;

        Board of Examiners means the Board of Examiners established under section 48;

        certificate of competency means a certificate of competency issued by the Board of Examiners;

        commute schedule means a schedule specifying the periods when registered managers and other managers and their alternates are to assume their duties at a mine and when they are to be absent from the mine;

        competent person means a person who is appointed or designated by the employer to perform specified duties which the person is qualified to perform by knowledge, training and experience;

        decline means a development opening driven down from the surface to any level or between any 2 levels in a mine at gradients permitting the use of trackless equipment;

        department means the department of the Public Service of the State principally assisting the Minister in the administration of this Act;

        deputy in relation to an underground coal mine, means a person who has the immediate supervision of employees and the direction of mining operations under the control of an underground manager, or other officer responsible to the manager;

        development in relation to a mining operation, includes all work undertaken to open up a mine by driving development openings or pre-stripping an open-cut body of ore;

        development opening or development heading in relation to an underground mine, means any drive, cross-cut, tunnel, adit, incline, decline, ramp, winze, rise, or shaft which is driven to provide access and services to underground operations, however excavated;

        district inspector means a district inspector of mines appointed under section 17 in accordance with section 18;

        Electoral Commissioner means the Electoral Commissioner appointed under the Electoral Act 1907 ;

        employee means —

            (a)         a person by whom work is done at a mine under a contract of employment; and

            (b)         an apprentice who works at a mine;

        employee’s inspector means an employee’s inspector of mines appointed under section 17 in accordance with section 19;

        employer means —

            (a)         a person who employs an employee at a mine under a contract of employment; and

            (b)         in relation to an apprentice, a person who employs the apprentice at a mine under a training contract registered under the Vocational Education and Training Act 1996 Part 7 Division 2;

        exploration manager , in relation to particular exploration operations, means a person who is appointed exploration manager for those operations under section 46A;

        exploration operations means any exploration activity which is undertaken on a mining tenement, whether offshore or on land, but does not include —

            (a)         any development work involving underground operations; or

            (b)         the excavation of any trial pits beyond the extent permitted under the tenement conditions; or

            (c)         remote sensing activity carried out using airborne or satellite mounted equipment (except for ground based activity in support of such remote sensing activity);

        explosives means a substance or article used or manufactured with the purpose of producing a practical effect by explosion or a pyrotechnic effect;

        foreman in relation to underground metal mining operations, means a person directly responsible to the underground manager or underground superintendent who has, under the direction of that manager or superintendent, the immediate charge of mining operations and supervisors for designated areas;

        hazard in relation to a person, means anything that may result in injury to the person or harm to the health of the person;

        hoist means a single undivided drum winding engine driven by a motor or engine having a capacity not exceeding 25 kilowatts;

        import means to bring into the State, whether from outside Australia or otherwise;

        improvement notice means an improvement notice issued under Part 3 Division 3;

        incline means a development opening driven up from any level to the surface or between any 2 levels in a mine at gradients permitting the use of trackless equipment;

        inspector means an inspector of mines appointed under this Act or whose appointment under a repealed Act is continued under this Act;

        manager in relation to a mine, means the registered manager for the mine;

        mine means a place at which mining operations are carried on and, where mining operations are being carried on in conjunction with one another at 2 or more places, those places are to be taken to constitute one mine unless the State mining engineer notifies the principal employer in writing otherwise in accordance with subsection (3); and to mine includes to carry on any manner or method of mining operations;

        mineral does not include natural gas or mineral oil in a free state;

        Mines Survey Board means the Mines Survey Board continued in existence for the purposes of this Act by section 82;

        Mining Industry Advisory Committee means the committee referred to in section 14A(2) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 ;

        mining operations means any method of working by which the earth or any rock structure, coal seam, stone, fluid, or mineral bearing substance is disturbed, removed, washed, sifted, crushed, leached, roasted, floated, distilled, evaporated, smelted, refined, sintered, pelletized, or dealt with for the purpose of obtaining any mineral or rock from it for commercial purposes or for subsequent use in industry, whether it has been previously disturbed or not, and includes —

            (a)         exploration operations; and

            (b)         developmental and construction work associated with opening up or operating a mine; and

            (c)         the removal and disposal of overburden or waste or residues by mechanical or other means and the stacking, depositing, storage, and treatment of any substance considered to contain any mineral; and

            (d)         the operation of blast furnaces and direct reduction furnaces; and

            (e)         the operation of privately owned railways to transport ore or other mining products, or to provide related services; and

            (ea)         the transport of ore or other mining product that takes place on a road that is not a road as defined in the Road Traffic Act 1974 ; and

            (f)         the crushing, screening, sorting, stacking, and loading and handling of ore or other mining products at any rail or road terminal or any loading or transhipment points, including seaports; and

            (g)         the operation of any support facilities on the minesite, including mine administration offices, workshops, and services buildings; and

            (h)         borefields remote from the minesite but an integral part of the mining operation; and

                  (i)         operations by means of which salt or other evaporites are harvested; and

            (j)         operations by means of which any mineral is recovered from the sea or sea bed or a natural water supply; and

            (k)         operation of residential facilities and recreational facilities and the ground used for that purpose, where such facilities are located on a mining tenement and are used solely in connection with mining operations; and

            (l)         the operation of any project which is for the time being declared by the Governor to be a mining operation under section 6; and

            (m)         operations undertaken for the environmental rehabilitation of the minesite during production operations and after their completion; and

            (n)         operations for the care, security and maintenance of a mine and plant at the mine undertaken during any period when production or development operations at the mine are suspended; and

            (o)         operations undertaken to leave a mine safe to be abandoned,

        but does not include the operation of —

            (p)         steel making plants; or

            (q)         rolling mills; or

            (r)         facilities for the manufacture of goods from mining products; or

            (s)         residential facilities or recreational facilities and the ground used for the purpose where such facilities are not located on a mining tenement and directly associated with mining operations; or

            (t)         sand, gravel, limestone, or rock excavation carried on by or for any State agency or instrumentality or any local government for the use or disposition by any such agency, instrumentality or local government; or

            (u)         excavation activities on private land by and for the use of the owner of the land;

        plan includes a correct copy or tracing of an original or section of a plan;

        plant includes machinery, equipment, appliance, implement, or tool and any component or fitting of or accessory to any such article;

        practicable means reasonably practicable having regard, where the context permits, to —

            (a)         the severity of any potential injury or harm to health that may be involved and the degree of risk of such injury or harm occurring; and

            (b)         the state of knowledge about —

                  (i)         the injury or harm to health referred to in paragraph (a); and

                  (ii)         the risk of that injury or harm to health occurring; and

                  (iii)         means of removing or mitigating the potential injury or harm to health;

                and

            (c)         the availability, suitability, and cost of the means referred to in paragraph (b)(iii);

        principal employer  —

            (a)         in relation to a mine (other than a mine where only exploration operations are being carried out), means the employer who is the proprietor, lessee, or occupier of the mine and who has overall control and supervision of the mine, mining operations at the mine and the manager of the mine; and

            (b)         in relation to a mine where only exploration operations are being carried out, means the employer who has overall control and supervision of the exploration operations at the mine and the exploration manager appointed for those operations;

        prohibition notice means a prohibition notice issued under Part 3 Division 3;

        provisional improvement notice means a provisional improvement notice issued under Part 3 Division 4;

        quarry or open cut or open pit means a surface mining operation in which mineral or rock is extracted from the earth by excavating into a natural surface gradient and includes —

            (a)         harvesting evaporites; and

            (b)         strip mining; and

            (c)         extraction of sand, clay and gravel; and

            (d)         hydraulic mining; and

            (e)         solution mining through bore holes or existing openings within the earth, whether natural or resulting from previous mining;

        quarry manager means the person who has, under the general direction and control of the registered manager, the immediate direction and control of the quarry operations of a mine;

        quarry operations include activities associated with the extraction of minerals or rock from the open pit but do not include administrative or engineering services or the operation of a treatment plant;

        radiation means ionising radiation, that is, electromagnetic or corpuscular radiation capable of producing ions directly or indirectly;

        radioactive means spontaneously emitting radiation by nuclear transformation;

        receiver includes a receiver and manager;

        record book means the record book referred to in section 23;

        registered manager means a person who is appointed registered manager of a mine under section 33;

        repealed Acts means the Mines Regulation Act 1946 and the Coal Mines Regulation Act 1946 repealed by this Act;

        rise means a vertical or steeply inclined development opening driven upward from any level in an underground mine;

        risk in relation to any injury or harm, means the probability of that injury or harm occurring;

        rock means any portion of the earth’s crust, whether consolidated or not;

        safety and health committee means a safety and health committee established under section 65 or 67A;

        safety and health magistrate means a person holding office as a safety and health magistrate under section 51B of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 ;

        safety and health representative means a safety and health representative elected under section 56;

        self-employed person means an individual who works for gain or reward otherwise than —

            (a)         under a contract of employment; or

            (b)         as an apprentice,

        whether or not the individual is an employer;

        senior inspector means a person who is a district inspector and has been appointed by the State mining engineer as the senior inspector responsible for all, or a specified part, of the State;

        shaft means —

            (a)         a vertical or inclined development opening into or within a mine through which persons and materials are raised and lowered using winding engines and through which services including ventilation may be provided; and

            (b)         a vertical or inclined development opening into or within a mine used for ventilation,

        but does not include a winze constructed from the surface or an underground level which may be used temporarily for the raising and lowering of persons or materials unless, in the opinion of an inspector, the winze is used as a shaft;

        special inspector means a special inspector of mines appointed under section 17 in accordance with section 18;

        State coal mining engineer means the State coal mining engineer appointed under section 16;

        State mining engineer means the State mining engineer appointed under section 16;

        supervisor in relation to underground mining operations or to a quarry, means a person who has the immediate supervision of employees and the direction of mining operations under the control of an underground manager, underground superintendent, quarry manager, or foreman;

        supply , in relation to any plant or substance, includes supply and re-supply by way of —

            (a)         sale (including by auction), exchange, lease, hire, or hire-purchase, whether as principal or agent; and

            (b)         the disposal in a manner referred to in paragraph (a) of assets of a business that include any plant or substance; and

            (c)         the disposal of all of the shares in a company that owns any plant or substance;

        trade union means —

            (a)         an organisation registered under section 53 of the Industrial Relations Act 1979 ; or

            (b)         an organisation registered under the Industrial Relations Act 1988  ² of the Commonwealth and having employees as some or all of its members, or a branch of such an organisation;

        Tribunal has the meaning given by section 51G(2) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 ;

        tunnel or adit means a horizontal or moderately graded development opening into a mine through which persons and materials are transported and services, including ventilation, are maintained, or any combination of these functions or services is maintained;

        underground in relation to mining operations, means any operations beneath the natural surface of the earth which are covered overhead by natural rock or earth, or by any earth, rock, fill, timber, or other material placed in the course of mining operations, and includes tunnels, drifts, shafts, and winzes that are used in mining operations and are more than 2 metres deep sunk from the surface;

        underground manager means the person who has, under the general direction and control of the registered manager, the immediate direction and control of the underground operations of a mine;

        underground superintendent means an underground manager or assistant underground manager of a mine, or a section of a mine, to whom the underground foreman or underground supervisor is responsible;

        winding engine means any machinery used to raise or lower, by means of a rope or ropes, conveyances in a shaft or winze for the transport of persons, material, or rock but does not include any lifting machine, endless rope haulage or scraper winch installation;

        winze means a vertical or steeply inclined development opening sunk downward from any level in an underground mine, or from the surface into a mine;

        workmen’s inspector means a workmen’s inspector of mines appointed under a repealed Act;

        workplace in relation to a mine, means a place, whether or not in a vehicle, building, or other structure, where employees or self-employed persons work or are likely to be in the course of their work, but does not include catering, residential, or recreational facilities for employees or self-employed persons except in the case of persons who are employed to service and maintain those facilities.

        (2)         Unless the contrary intention appears, a reference in this Act to a mine is to be taken to include a reference to any part of the mine.

        (3)         Where mining operations are being carried on in conjunction with one another at 2 or more places, the State mining engineer may notify the principal employer in writing that each of those places or such of those places as are specified in the notice are to be regarded as separate mines for the purposes of this Act.

        (4)         For the purposes of sections 8B(2), 9A(2), 10A(2), 12A(2), 12C(2), 13A(2), 15(2), 15E(2), 99A(2)(a)(iv) and 100A(2)(a)(iii) a contravention causes serious harm to a person if it causes any bodily injury to the person, or causes the person to have a disease, of such a nature as to —

            (a)         endanger, or be likely to endanger, the person’s life; or

            (b)         result, or be likely to result, in permanent injury or harm to the person’s health.

        [Section 4 amended by No. 30 of 1995 s. 53 and 76(1); No. 79 of 1995 s. 67(4); No. 14 of 1996 s. 4; No. 16 of 2002 s. 3; No. 7 of 2004 s. 70; No. 51 of 2004 s. 115(2); No. 68 of 2004 s. 14, 49, 73, 80 and 88; No. 16 of 2008 s. 4; No. 44 of 2008 s. 55.]