MINE HEALTH & SAFETY: FIRE & CHANGE MANAGEMENT CODE COMPILATION GUIDELINES PUBLISHED

MINE HEALTH & SAFETY: FIRE & CHANGE MANAGEMENT CODE COMPILATION GUIDELINES PUBLISHED

• 20 June 2025
• Minerals & Energy
• SA Legal Academy

The Department of Mineral Resources & Energy has gazetted guidelines on compiling two mandatory codes of practice under the 1996 Mine Health & Safety Act. They focus on:

• change management/organisational transition, and
• fire prevention in mines and excavations.

This is noting that:

• change is inevitable in the face of:
  • diminishing mineral quality
  • escalating production expenses, and
  • shifting compliance requirements
• there may be resistance to moving away from conventional, familiar, often conservative methodologies and approaches
• effective change management ‘has emerged as a crucial competitive advantage’
• organisational change may include, but … (is) not limited to, operational, structural, regulatory, market-driven and cultural transformation … (across) all areas of a mine, and
• in the absence of proficiently managed ‘appropriate change’, mining operations could face:
• significantly increased health and safety risks
• economic loss
• reduced productivity, and
• penalties for non-compliance with mandatory sector regulations.

Each set of guidelines deals with:

• the format and content of the required code of practice, and
• implementation and related planning (including compliance and access to all relevant documents).

In preparing a code of practice, compliance with the guideline concerned is mandatory.

• change management code compilation guidelines
• fire prevention code compilation guidelines

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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