TWO THOUSAND people have now attended the Mine Operators Workshop in Lightning Ridge, run by the NSW Department of Primary Industries.
The Department has been conducting these workshops for all mine operators in Lightning Ridge and surrounding areas since October 2003 to ensure all miners are qualified under mining and occupational health and safety legislation.
According to DPI’s Director Mine Safety Operations Rob Regan the many courses run by DPI are widely credited with the dramatic improvement in safety on the opal fields.
Regan says that the NSW opal mining industry has now marked over a decade without a fatality. He says that the Opal Miners Operators Workshop is an outstanding example of Government and industry working together to improve mine safety. He claims that the safety performance of the opal mining industry prior to this course was unacceptable.The workshops, which are run at least twice a month, include a Mine Safety Management Plan, especially developed for opal mining.
The Plan is explained in full, and miners are also told about the legislation, its requirements, hazard management and job safety analysis.
Miners also receive a log book, which they are expected to keep up to date, and all the necessary documentation needed to comply with the legislation.
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