Safe Work Australia Submission

8/3/2019 Safe Work Australia Submission

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COMPLETE AND SUBMIT THIS FORM WITH YOUR SUBMISSION BY MONDAY 4 APRIL 2011 5PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time

Email submissions to [email protected]

Please note the following information will be placed on the Safe Work Australia website

This submission is written on behalf of: (please select one of the following categories)x Individual Organisation

Individual OROrganisation’s name:

Clifton R Kemp

State/Territory Queensland

Note: The following information will not be placed on the Safe Work Australia website:

Principal contact Cliff Kemp

Position Diving Supervisor

Email [email protected] Phone (07) 4789 3116

Mobile 0409892257 Fax

Postal address PO Box 271

Thuringowa central

Suburb/City Townsville State & Postcode 4817

Length of submission (pages including this cover sheet) Pages:

Are you making this submission as: (please select one of the following categories)



Liability – Neither the Commonwealth of Australia nor Safe Work Australia takes responsibility or shall be liable for any breach of thecopyright, or libellous or defamatory comments in submissions published by Safe Work Australia.



Model Work Health and Safety Regulations andCodes of Practice Public Comment Response Form

Individual/Organisational name:Section A: Model Work Health and Safety Regulations Exposure Draft

General Comments (e.g. regulatory impact, level of prescription, notification, record-keeping requirements)

Working under AS 2299.1 2007 is a vital connection between Divers, Contractors and clients. It sets some of the basic safety guidelines toconduct safe diving operations. I also work at the Townsville hospital as a Hyperbaric operator, over xmas 2010/2011 6-8 cases of touristdivers, recreational divers, fishery divers have been treated with bend type symptoms. Just recently a Cray diver from TI was treated with bendtype symptoms and the diving profile for the day had been 30 bounce dives to 18m.These are the sort of divers you want to let out into the commercial diving world with the deregulation of the training programme and the non-referencing to 2299.1.

I am disgusted to think the government of the day will even contemplate to allow work of a lesser standard be allowed.

Regards

Cliff Kemp

Diving Supervisor #03543

Please find further comments included in Part 4.8 ‘Diving work’

Chapter 1: Preliminary (e.g. definitions)

Chapter 2: Representation and participation (e.g. power to request review of risk control measures in certain circumstances)

Chapter 3: General workplace management

Part 3.1 General working environment



Part 3.2 Personal protective equipment

Part 3.3 First aid

Part 3.4 Emergency plans

Part 3.5 Review of general workplace management measures

Chapter 4: Hazardous work

Part 4.1 Noise

Part 4.2 Hazardous manual tasks

Part 4.3 Confined spaces

Part 4.4 Falls

Part 4.5 High risk work (e.g. Accreditation of Assessors)

Part 4.6 Abrasive blasting



Part 4.7 Electrical work

Part 4.8 Diving work

I am an active working commercial diver and wish to submit the following comments on the proposed Model Work Health and SafetyRegulations 2010 as they apply to diving work (that is, draft regulations 4.8.1- 4.8.21)

I am concerned that if the draft regulations are implemented they will actually reduce the current standard of safety in my industry and mayimpact directly on my ability to earn a living.

These draft regulations will result in my work as a construction diver being adversely impacted by untrained or under-trained divers beingallowed to compete unfairly with myself and other divers who have been fully trained according to the Australian Standard. Because these

regulations do not mandate most of the safety provisions of the Australian and New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 2299.1 (2299.1), which havebeen adopted by the industry as demonstrating good industry practice, many unscrupulous or ill-informed divers will fail to comply with thesafety procedures inherent in that Standard.

Such divers will be able to achieve their qualifications much more cheaply than those trained by ADAS. Because they will not be required bythese draft regulations to conform to the industry–accepted good practices of 2299.1 – particularly in regard to minimum team sizes and usingsurface supplied equipment, they will be able to tender for diving jobs for much less than those of us operating in compliance with theStandards.

• Those of us who are diving in compliance with good practice will be done out of a job.

In particular, I think the draft regulations are not acceptable in the following areas.

1. THEY DO NOT REQUIRE ADAS CERTIFICATION AS NECESSARY TO UNDERTAKE CONSTRUCTION DIVING

As noted below, in my view these draft regulations effectively de-regulate construction diver training and much of construction diving operations



to the point where the risk to the working diver will be increased over what it is at the moment.

The ADAS arrangements provide access to internationally recognised high quality construction diver training in Australia and give Australian

divers global access to construction diving jobs. If ADAS accredited dive schools can’t compete with the cheap construction diver trainingalternatives allowed by these draft regulations, ADAS itself is likely to disappear.

• ADAS has put in place a comprehensive training and certification system that provides locally available training delivered by Australian

commercial divers right through from occupational scuba to the highest level of saturation diving.

• If ADAS disappears, I - and every other Australian construction diver who wants to get the internationally-recognised training needed for

oilfield diving - will need to go overseas.

• I and every other Australian diver stand to lose the globally portability and universal recognition provided by the ADAS certificate.

• ADAS may disappear and my hard won ADAS qualifications and national and international career path opportunities will go with it. Toreplace my ADAS card, I will need to re-train in the UK or some other foreign country to get an internationally recognised diving

certificate the equivalent of my ADAS card.

• What certification system will the government put in place to replace ADAS as the national construction diver certification

scheme and to service the Australian construction divers and provide them with entry to overseas jobs?

2. AS/NZS 2299.1 IS NOT CALLED UP

The draft regulations apply only a very small number of the safety provisions of AS/NZS 2299.1. As a result, unscrupulous rogue divers and

contractors will be able to use inappropriate and cheaper diving methods and equipment to cut costs. This will put reputable divers and

contractors at a major disadvantage and will make it difficult (if not impossible) for us to compete in what will effectively be an unregulated work

place.



• High quality operators will either not be able to compete or will have to compromise;

Although there are a few bits in the draft called up from 2299.1 (relating to general matters concerning the fitness of workers, proof of

qualifications, undertaking risk assessments, dive planning and dive records), there is a complete absence of requirements set out in 2299.1 inrelation to many critical issues.

The draft regulations do not have any provisions for such critical safety issues as minimum requirements for diving equipment, team sizes, useof decompression chambers, breathing gas purity standards and the minimum contents of operations manual and much, much more!

Such a comprehensive deficiency in the draft regulations is unsupportable. It puts worker health and safety at risk and results in a work

environment where current safety standards are significantly reduced.

• The Australian standards for diving have been in print for over 30 years and have been developed and refined by successive

comprehensive committees of occupational diving experts. They are regarded by the industry in Australia, New Zealand and

elsewhere in the South East Asia region (and cited by regulators, courts and Coroners) as the reference document in matters

regarding industry standard operational practice relating to the undertaking of diving work.

• Why, therefore, don’t these draft regulations include AS/NZS 2299.1?

3. THEY EFFECTIVELY DE-REGULATE MUCH CONSTRUCTION DIVING WORK

The way the draft regulations are written (including the definition of ‘limited diving’, the way ‘construction work’ is defined and the exemptions tothe definition of ‘construction work’) will allow minimally-trained general work divers to undertake many high risk diving tasks that should beundertaken by ADAS construction divers. Just a few of many examples include:

• Vessel hull cleaning entailing penetration diving on large freighters, passenger liners and cargo ships;

• Anode installation and replacement entailing penetration diving on large vessels, wharves and other structures;



• Deep salvage of boats, ships, motor vehicles and aircraft entailing penetration diving and underwater jetting, dredging and use of

mechanical lifting and underwater power tools;

• Inspection tasks at any depth, potentially involving penetration diving and including deep inspections of dams, wharves, locks, tunnels,

mine shafts etc, using underwater video, photographic or visual at any depth using equipment, bridge inspections;

• Non Destructive Testing (NDT) tasks, potentially involving deep and/or penetration diving;

• Underwater maintenance or change-out of components at any depth(such as changing foot valves or swapping out pumps) potentially

involving penetration diving;

• Tank cleaning and dredging, including overhead penetration dives and confined space entries;

• Water jetting and dredging of channels or the seabed using powered tools and overhead mechanical lifting;

• Erosion control of river banks or the seabed involving installing heavy concrete mattresses involving heavy overhead mechanical lifting

in very restricted visibility;

• Diving in toxic or contaminated environments to undertake inspections or minor maintenance tasks.

By anyone’s reckoning, this type of work requires the comprehensive high-end training provided by ADAS and the Australian Standards for construction diving.

• Considering that construction diving is recognised universally as the most hazardous end of the high risk activity that is

occupational diving, why are these regulations reducing safety controls, effectively putting divers with inappropriate training

at risk and divers who want to comply with good safety practices out of business?

4. CONSTRUCTION DIVER TRAINING IS ALSO DE-REGULATED

Occupational diving is recognised in all developed countries as a high risk activity and construction diving is recognised as the most hazardous



of all types of diving work!!

This draft regulation effectively de-regulates construction diver training to the significant detriment of trainee diver safety. It does NOT specify

the standard to which the training is to be undertaken NOR does it specify that the training must be delivered by a quality assured trainingestablishment. It does not even require that the training deliverer be published on the SWA website!!

ADAS was specifically developed to provide quality assured construction diver training through its accredited training establishments that are

subject to robust auditing and quality control to demonstrate that they meet the Australian Standards.

Under the proposed draft regulations:

• schools are NOT required to train to the Australian Standards which have been developed by the industry specifically for construction

diving work;

• training establishments will not have to meet any quality assurance requirements – not even those required of the general diving work

provisions;

• it seems obvious that construction diver training will follow the model of the recreational dive training industry in which competition

between training schools has meant that standards are cut to reduce costs to the bone;

• the quality associated with existing Australian certification will be devalued and there will be no central certification scheme to provide

continuity of training and an internationally recognised certificate;

The de-regulation of construction diver training to the degree implied by these draft regulations will almost certainly result in the disappearance

of the quality-assured training that ADAS accredited training establishments provide to divers. This also means the disappearance of the ADAS

certification, which offers proof of competence to divers and to diving employers as proof of compliance with their duty of care.

ADAS is a premier certification recognised by IMCA and all the major players in the industry. The international offshore oil operators are notgoing to recognise a certificate issued by XYZ Anonymous Australian Dive School!

• Again, considering that construction diving is the high hazard end of a high risk activity, why do these regulations completely fail

maintain the current world recognised and quality assured construction diving training and training deliverer requirements?



5. STANDARD OF DIVE SUPERVISION IS SUBSTANTIALLY COMPRISED

The draft regulations impose a range of responsibilities on dive supervisors, requiring them to:

• identify all hazards and assesses all risks associated with the diving work;

• implement measures to control risks and monitor their implementation;

• prepare a dive plan;

• brief workers on the dive plan;

• maintain and authorises the dive safety log.

However, the requirements for dive supervisor competencies as drafted fail to recognise both these significant legislated responsibilities(imposed on dive supervisors by the draft regulations themselves) and the critical role of the dive supervisor both from a diving safety and a

work-outcomes perspective.

The competence requirements for dive supervisors in the draft make no allowance for the degree of significant maturity, judgment and expertise

required to comply with the duties these regulations place upon him.

• The provisions of the draft result in significant reduction of the standards of safety currently applied by AS/NZS 2299.1.

• The draft regulations totally ignore the requirements placed on the role of the supervisor by 2299.1 and identified as specific

competencies in AS 2815.5.

• Supervisors are the key risk management control for occupational diving.

o They keep the worksite, divers and equipment safe and ensuring the minimal escalation of any safety issues that may occur on

a dive site

The draft regulations require only that the worker be ‘experienced in the type of diving to be supervised’.

• The obvious questions are: ‘how experienced?’ and ‘experienced in what?’





• The safety and careers of Australian construction divers will be put at risk if these regulations are permitted to go ahead in

their present form.

Chapter 5: Plant and Structures

Chapter 6 Construction (e.g. construction induction requirement)

Chapter 7: Hazardous chemicals

Part 7.1 Hazardous chemicals

Part 7.2 Inorganic lead

Part 7.3 Asbestos

Chapter 8: Major hazard facilities

Chapter 9: Mines

Chapter 10: General

Part 10.1 Review of decisions

Part 10.3 Exemptions





Section B: Model Codes of Practice

General Comments

How to manage work health and safety risks

How to consult on work health and safety

Managing the work environment and facilities

Managing noise and preventing hearing loss at work

Hazardous manual tasks

Confined spaces

How to prevent falls at the workplace

Labelling of workplace hazardous chemicals

Preparation of safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals



How to manage and control asbestos in the workplace

How to safely remove asbestos

Facilities for construction sites



Appendix

Penalty levels

Infringement notices

Other Comments

Documents

Safe Work Australia Submission