The purpose of this guideline is to provide guidance on the ‘general duty of care’ provisions of the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994. The Act sets objectives to promote and improve occupational safety and health for people who work in mining operations in Western Australia. It imposes a general duty of care to maintain safe and healthy workplaces at mines, protect people at work from hazards and describes the conduct required of people responsible for safety and health.
The guideline provides information on the general duty of care obligations of:
- employers
- employees
- contractors and their employees
- labour hire agents and workers; and
- people involved in the design, supply, installation, and maintenance of plant.
This guideline complements the Commission for Occupational Safety and Health’s Guidance Note — General Duty of Care in Western Australian Workplaces 2005 by providing information specifically related to the mining industry. The information presented is based on the provisions of the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994. This guideline should be used and read in conjunction with the Act, the Mines Safety and Inspection Regulations 1995 and other guidance material issued by Resources Safety such as codes of practice, guidelines, safety bulletins and significant incident reports