What is a safety management system and how it minimise risk?

According to Mining News Pro - WorkSafe Mines Safety has published the ‘Code of practice: Mine Safety Management Systems’ to help operators establish and implement a mine safety management system (MSMS).

The MSMS is the primary means of ensuring safe operations by providing direction to everyone at a mine site and must be in place before operations commence.

Also applying to exploration operations, the MSMS is part of the Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations 2022 and has been approved by WA Minister for Mines and Petroleum Bill Johnston, and endorsed by the Mining Industry Advisory Committee (MIAC) and the Work Health and Safety Commission (WHSC).

Discussing already existing health and safety policies in mining operations, MIAC chair and chief inspector of mines Christina Folley attested to the function of the MSMS of tying all of the elements of health and safety together in an integrated system.

“The MSMS enables persons conducting a business or undertaking to ensure there are no gaps in the management of all health and safety risks and that all of the elements work in a coordinated way,” she said.

The MSMS places a focus on managing risks, particularly those posed by principal mining hazards, and reinforces that the mine operator should create a culture in which workers will be more likely to actively contribute to health and safety performance improvement activities.

The risk management process laid out by MSMS involves the following steps:

    Identifying hazards – find out what could cause harm to health and safety
    Assessing risks – understand the nature of the harm that could be caused by the hazard, how serious the harm could be, and the likelihood of it happening
    Managing risks – so far as is reasonably practicable, eliminate the hazard and associated risk, or minimise the risk through the implementation of effective risk control measures based upon the hierarchy of control
    Reviewing – control measures to ensure they are working as planned.

The risk management process for new mines will differ, as there will not be a current safety framework that can be adapted to meet the requirements of the MSMS.

What is a safety management system?

A safety management system (SMS) for a mine is a tool that assists mine operators to systematically achieve and maintain standards for managing safety and health. It brings together the policies and procedures required to effectively mitigate (i.e. lessen the severity) the risks associated with the mining operations.

Why is an SMS important?

An SMS allows the mine operator to demonstrate the effective management of health and safety on site to:

    employees, contractors and others working at the mine site
    the regulator
    an external organisation when seeking certification
    management when assessing the mine systems against recognised industry standards.

To maximise its effectiveness, the SMS needs to be:

    a documented system
    be easily understood
    accessible.

The risks managed at all mining operations are dynamic and varied. The SMS is used to ensure these risks are considered and strategies are documented so adequate controls are implemented for the life of the mine.

While all mines have safety- and risk-related policies, plans and procedures in place, the SMS ties these elements in a single integrated system.