EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2005 No. 179

 

Minute No. 5 of 2005 - Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources

 

Subject -          Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967

 

                        Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Occupational Health and Safety) Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 2)

                       

                        Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 1)

Subsection 157(1) of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters that by the Act are required or permitted to be prescribed or are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.  Paragraph 157(2)(e) of the Act states that the regulations may make provision for securing, regulating, controlling or restricting the construction, erection, maintenance, operation or use of installations, equipment or facilities.

In accordance with a commitment by the Commonwealth Government, and agreed to by the States and Territories, the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Amendment Act 2003 amended the Act to establish the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) to regulate occupational health and safety (OHS) in all of Australia’s offshore petroleum activities.Minister’s initials

The purpose of the Regulations is to update the two Principal Regulations: the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Occupational Health and Safety) Regulations 1993; and the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1996.

The Regulations will:

·        correct errors that have been identified since amendments to the Principal Regulations were last made in 2004;

·        reflect recent changes to the OHS laws of the Commonwealth and States;

·        rectify an immediate issue relating to exposure to noise as assessed and controlled in accordance with the National OHS Standards; and

·        improve administrative processes through providing consistency with other Commonwealth OHS legislation.

Details of the Regulations are set out in Attachments A and B.

 

 

 

 

The Regulations have been developed in consultation with: the offshore petroleum industry (through the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association); NOPSA; the National Oil and Gas Safety Advisory Committee; and the relevant authorities within each State and the Northern Territory through the Upstream Petroleum Subcommittee under the Standing Committee of Officials of the Ministerial Council on Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

The Regulations commence on 1 September 2005, and are legislative instruments for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

Authority:   Subsection 157(1) of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967

ATTACHMENT A

Details of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Occupational Health and Safety) Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 2)

Regulation 1 -   Name of Regulations

This regulation provides that the title of the Regulations are the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Occupational Health and Safety) Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 2).

Regulation 2 -   Commencement

This regulation provides for the Regulations to commence on 1 September 2005.

Regulation 3 -   Amendment of Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Occupational Health and Safety) Regulations 1993

This regulation provides that the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Occupational Health and Safety) Regulations 1993 (the Principal Regulations) are amended as set out in Schedule 1.

Schedule 1 - Amendments

Item [1] – After Subregulation 4F(2)

This item inserts new subregulations 4F(2A) and (2B).  This amendment is necessary to correct the intention of the reference to the National Standard for Occupational Noise [NOHSC: 1007 (2000)] (noise exposure standard) in Regulation 4F – Exposure to noise. 

The intention of regulation 4F was that only clause 3.1 of the national standard would apply:

3.1 The national standard for exposure to noise in the occupational environment is an eight-hour equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level, LAeq,8h, of 85dB(A).  For peak noise, the national standard is a C-weighted peak sound pressure level, LC,peak, of 140dB(C).

However, clause 3.2 of the noise exposure standard means that, as regulation 4F is currently worded, use of hearing protectors is not an acceptable measure for control of noise exposure:

3.2 The exposure to noise is taken to be that measured at the employee's ear position without taking into account any protection which may be afforded by personal hearing protectors.

The effect of the amendment will be to provide direction to the industry on how the exposure standard can be met in practice.

Subregulations (2A) and (2B) enables persons on offshore oil and gas facilities to allow for the protection afforded by hearing protectors when determining noise exposures.

Paragraph 4F(2A)(a) requires the noise exposure to be managed in accordance with the National Code of Practice for Noise Management and Protection of Hearing at Work [NOHSC: 2009 (2004)] (the Code of Practice) published by the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC) as existing from time to time.  The Code of Practice provides a practical means of implementing the noise exposure standard.

Paragraph 4F(2A)(b) provides that the protection offered by hearing protectors can be considered when determining effective noise exposures. The maximum permissible noise exposures are an eight hour equivalent continuous noise level of 85dB(A) and an instantaneous peak exposure of 140dB(C).

Subregulation 4F(2B) provides that paragraph 4F(2A)(b) should apply despite the wording of the noise exposure standard which currently states “the exposure to noise is taken to be that measured at the employee’s ear position without taking into account any protection, which may be afforded by personal hearing protectors”.

Item [2] – Subregulation 23(4)

This item makes a minor amendment to subregulation 23(4) replacing “in the prescribed manner” with “by the returning officer” to achieve consistency with the corresponding provisions in the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Regulations 1991.  

Item [3] – Regulation 24

This item omits regulation 24 “Prescribed manner of drawing lots” to achieve consistency with the corresponding provisions in the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Regulations 1991.

This amendment has the effect of reducing the administrative burden on the returning officer at any Health and Safety Representative election, in the event that two or more candidates receive the same number of votes, and minimises the possibility that an election could be invalidated because of procedural issues.

Item [4] – Subregulation 34A(1), table, item 3, column 3

 

This item omits the reference to “Petroleum Act 1923, to the extent that it relates to occupational health and safety” from item [3], as the Petroleum Act 1923 no longer contains provisions relating to occupational health and safety.

Item [5] – Subregulation 34A(1), table, item 5, column 3

This item omits the reference to “Petroleum Act 2000”, from item [5], as the Petroleum Act 2000 does not contain provisions that would overlap with, and duplicate the provisions of, the laws that are administered by the Safety Authority.

Item [6] –Schedule 1, Form 2, note 3

This item replaces the reference to subclause “36(7A)” with “33(3)” to correct a typographical error.  Paragraph (a) in note 3 is to be omitted as a copy of the notice is not required to be circulated to health and safety representatives, rather a copy of the notice is required to be displayed in a prominent place at or near each workplace.

Item [7] – Schedule 1, Form 2, note 4

This item makes a minor amendment to Form 2, to remove “any person to whom the Improvement Notice has been issued” from the list of persons who may request the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in writing to review the OHS inspector’s decision, in line with amendments made to the Act.

Item [8] – Schedule 1, Form 2, note 4

This item makes a minor amendment to Form 2, to insert “OHS” before “inspector’s” for consistency in terminology.

Item [9] – Schedule 1, Form 3, note 3

This item makes a minor amendment to Form 3, to omit the reference to “any person to whom an Improvement Notice has been issued”, in line with amendments to the Act.

Item [10] – Schedule 1, Form 3, note 3

This item makes a minor amendment to Form 3, to insert “OHS” before “inspector’s” for consistency in terminology.

Item [11] – Schedule 1, Form 4, note 3, paragraphs (a) to (f)

This item makes minor amendments to note 3 on Form 4, to omit paragraph (b) “a person to whom a prohibition notice has been issued” and paragraph (f) “the owner of any plant, substance or thing to which the OHS inspector’s decision relates”, in line with the amendments made to the Act.

This item also replaces the lettering of the paragraphs in note 3 with bullet points for consistency with the layout of the Principal Regulations.

Item [12] – Schedule 1, Form 5, note 5

This item makes a minor amendment to Form 5, to replace the reference to subclause “36(8)” with “clause 37”, to correct a typographical error.

Item [13] –Schedule 1, Form 5, note 5, paragraphs (a) to (f)

This item makes a minor amendment to Form 5, to insert “OHS” before “inspector’s” for consistency in terminology.

This item also replaces the lettering of the paragraphs in note 5 with bullet points for consistency with the layout of the Principal Regulations.

ATTACHMENT B

Details of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 1)

Regulation 1 -   Name of Regulations

This regulation provides that the title of the Regulations are the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 1).

Regulation 2 -   Commencement

This regulation provides for the Regulations to commence on 1 September 2005.

Regulation 3 -   Amendment of Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1993

This regulation provides that the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Safety on Offshore Facilities) Regulations 1993 (the Principal Regulations) are amended as set out in Schedule 1.

Schedule 1 - Amendments

Item [1] – Regulation 13

This item replaces the word “described” with “describe” to correct a grammatical error.

Item [2] – Paragraph 24(2)(a)

This item amends paragraph 24(2)(a) to ensure the duty of care established under the Principal Regulations is consistent with the duty of care that is established by clause 3 of Schedule 7 of the Act.

Item [3] - Subregulation 25(1)

This item retains the provisions of the previous subregulation 25(1) but substantially rewords it to clarify its meaning.  The effect of paragraphs 25(1)(a) and (b) is that only facilities that are connected to one or more operational pipelines or are proposed to be connected to one or more operational pipelines require procedures for shutting down or isolating pipelines in an emergency.  The intent of paragraphs 25(1)(a) and (b) is to ensure that a facility engaged in the laying of pipelines is not classified as a facility relevant to regulation 25.

Item [4] – Regulation 27

This item makes minor amendments to regulation 27, to replace references to “OHS inspector” with “Safety Authority” (NOPSA) for consistency with the requirements relating to the provision of reports to the Safety Authority.

Item [5] – Subparagraph 44(4)(a)(i)

This item makes a minor amendment to subparagraph 44(4)(a)(i), to replace “at the proposed facility” with “at the facility” to correct a drafting error in the Principal Regulations.