MENTAL HEALTH —
FLY IN, FLY OUT CODE
550. Hon JACQUI BOYDELL to the minister representing the
Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to question without notice
312 asked by me in this place on 4 April 2019 regarding the document ''Code
of Practice: Mentally healthy workplaces for fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers in
the resources and construction sectors''.
(1) Please
outline the process that would alert the Department of Mines, Industry
Regulation and Safety to the failure of a company to comply with the code?
(2) How many
reported failures to correctly apply the code has the Department of Mines,
Industry Regulation and Safety recorded since May 2019?
(3) What action
has been taken by DMIRS to ensure that companies comply with the code in the
future?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
The following information has been provided to me by the Minister for Mines and
Petroleum.
(1) The mentally
healthy workplaces code of practice is not a prescriptive document, nor is it
legislative. The code of practice encourages a risk management approach to
psychosocial safety and aims to provide guidance on how to comply with the
safety legislation. It does not create a reporting requirement. If an employer
is failing to meet its legislative workplace safety obligations, including
psychosocial, the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety would
become aware through site inspections, via injuries and incident reporting by
employees, and by complaints, contacts or inquiries from industry employees or
other persons impacted who notify the department. There is no specific mandated
reporting process under the code.
(2) The code is not a legislative
instrument.
(3) When
considered appropriate, DMIRS will make contact with the employer to discuss
what appropriate steps are necessary to meet the intent of the code. DMIRS
actively promotes the code to all industry and provides various resources on
its website.