New regulation to make major hazard facilities safer

The NSW Finance Minister, Joe Tripodi, has recently released a new fee schedule for major hazard facilities to comply with safety regulations.

The NSW government introduced new safety regulations for the operation of major hazard facilities in July 2008 that were designed to reduce the risk and consequence of major incidents.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) was engaged to recommend an equitable fee schedule for sites to meet the costs of complying with the new regulation.

“IPART has recommended a fixed annual fee to recover all non-registration-based costs and an annual variable fee that recovers all registration-based costs, in proportion to facility size and level of risk,” the Minister said. “I accept IPART’s recommended fee schedule which aims to reduce the regulatory burden on site operators.

“Both WorkCover and IPART conducted extensive consultation with industry over 16 months regarding proposed fees, including the release of two discussion papers and a comprehensive cost analysis conducted by independent cost consultant KMPG.”

The new safety regulations require major hazard facilities, such as oil refineries and chemical processing plants, to notify WorkCover of specific safety measures undertaken to reduce the risk of major incidents including a safety management system, security plan and emergency plan.

“The requirements are implemented through a notification and registration process to WorkCover NSW and bring our state into line with the National Standard for the Control of Major Hazard Facilities,” continued Tripodi. “We have also taken steps to implement more robust security measures to minimise the possibility of terrorist action against major hazard facilities.

“WorkCover will establish a multi-agency Major Hazard Facilities Unit that will include representatives from emergency services, Department of Planning and the Department of Environment and Climate Change.

“As well as implementing the compliance requirements of the national standard across New South Wales, the unit will provide advice and assist industry meet the new requirements and manage activities such as registration, classification and notification requirements as well as site visits and investigations as required.”

Information about the new regulation and associated fees for Major Hazard Facilities in New South Wales is available from www.workcover.nsw.gov.au. A copy of the IPART report is available from www.ipart.nsw.gov.au.