Scope of Proposed Silica Regulations

31 October 2019

WorkSafe Victoria 567 Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3000

SUBJECT: SCOPE OF PROPOSED SILICA REGULATIONS

Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA) welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to WorkSafe Victoria on the scope of the proposed silica regulations.

CCAA is the peak industry body for the heavy construction materials industry in Australia including the cement, pre-mixed concrete and extractive industries. Our members operate cement distribution facilities, concrete batching plants, hard rock quarries and sand and gravel extraction operations throughout Victoria. For your information, a list of CCAA Victoria’s members is provided in Appendix 1.

CCAA members nationally account for 80% of total industry output, with the industry generating $15 billion per annum in revenue, employing 30,000 Australians directly and supporting the employment of a further 80,000 people. CCAA members produce and supply the heavy construction materials that are used to construct Victoria’s infrastructure. Providing both the raw material and finished product, heavy construction materials contribute to the construction of our roads, railways, bridges, ports, airports, hospitals and schools.

CCAA’s members service local, regional and national building, construction and infrastructure markets. The reliable and cost-effective supply to these markets is fundamental to sustainable growth and it is CCAA’s aim to promote policies that recognise the importance of these materials to Australia’s sustainable future.

CCAA supports Option 3 , the appropriate enforcement of the existing Regulations, but with specific additional requirements such as SDS labelling, health monitoring and information to prospective employees outlined in guideline documents for extractive industry operations. The existing CCAA 'Workplace Health & Safety Guideline - Management of Respirable Crystalline Silica in Quarries' provides such a body of knowledge.

Background

Ensuring the health and safety of workers and contractors is fundamental to the heavy construction materials industry and to CCAA and its members. To this end, in 2018 CCAA with the support of its members and WorkSafe agencies around the country developed the 'Workplace Health & Safety Guideline - Management of Respirable Crystalline Silica in Quarries' (the CCAA Guideline).

Melbourne Office • Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia • Suite 910/ 1 Queens Road, Melbourne VIC 3004 Telephone (61 3) 9825 0200 • Website www.ccaa.com.au • ABN 34 000 020 486

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to quarry operators regarding the appropriate assessment and control of respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in Australian quarries and it has been widely accepted by operators and regulators.

It is important to note that while present in many rock types, the concentration of Crystalline Silica in different rock types varies considerably. Quartz is found in most rocks, but particularly in sandstone (70-90% crystalline silica) and granite (typically around 30% crystalline silica). Some rocks contain only a small amount of quartz, for example limestone and marble both have around 2% crystalline silica content whereas basalt has less than 1%. Dust containing RCS can arise from a number of processes in the extractive operations of rock such as drilling, blasting, crushing and handling rock and other minerals containing quartz. Actual extractive processes differ by the type of rock being extracted.

While not all quarries and not all processes will lead to exposure to RCS, CCAA and its members are conscious of the need to ensure our industry continues to proactively manage the hazard.

The heavy construction materials sector has a strong track record in protecting its workers from the risks of exposure to RCS and we strongly support actions that effectively and meaningfully reduce the incidence of silicosis and associated diseases.

CCAA are however, alarmed by the proposed new silica regulations that apparently seeks to address a spike in the incidence of Silicosis in the engineered stone benchtop industry, which appears not to have been applying acceptable work practices or meeting existing workplace exposure standards, by further increasing regulatory burden and costs to other more compliant industries.

CCAA strongly supports practical, evidence based regulation supported by appropriate education and compliance activities and are strongly of the view that if the current standard is properly applied to the engineered stone benchtop industry, incidences of Silicosis in the workforce can be effectively managed without further reductions in the WES.

CCAA are very concerned about the impacts of these proposed Regulations on our sector in particular. These concerns are:

• A disproportionate response to the unregulated activities of an unrelated industry sector; • The very low incidence of Silicosis in the quarry sector and recognition of our industry’s solid track record in effectively managing the risk of Silicosis; • A RCS WES of 0.02mg/m 3 would be impossible for compliance from both a monitoring and analysis perspective. It is widely accepted that RCS cannot be reliably measured at this level; • A focus on reducing exposure standards to an unmeasurable level to manage the issue rather than an integrated management approach. • Not all quarries and not all processes will lead to exposure to RCS. The level of risk to workers will differ depending on the concentration of RCS in the rock source, processing methods, how the site is designed and operated and the effectiveness of controls deployed at the site.

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CCAA provides the following comments on the scope of the proposed silica regulations:

Current Regulatory Framework

CCAA notes that Safe Work Australia (SWA) has not publicly announced their decision on the review of the Workplace Exposure Standard (WES) and that WorkSafe have publicly committed to abiding by the SWA decision on the WES.

Any commentary that WorkSafe will imply a WES of 0.02 mg/m 3 equals compliance is not supported.

Nature and extent of problem

The paper provides a biased discussion on the exposure risks in the various industries without any discussion on the application of well understood, common, standard controls that can be applied; especially in quarry operations to minimize RCS exposure to workers, e.g. Table 3, CCAA Guideline.

The discussion on exposure to RCS in the quarrying sector implies the risks associated with processing one specific, specialized product of silica flour are applicable across the wider sector. This is not the case and is misleading. It does not provide a balanced representation of the risk to the sector as a whole. Note that around 30% of Victorian hard rock quarries have a silica content of less than 1% in their rock source.

Issues

Limited capacity and capability to assess the risk This issue does not apply to CCAA members who have well developed health and safety risk assessment procedures supported by the extensive body of knowledge outlined in the CCAA Guideline.

Additional education by the Regulator for those industries that do not have these skills does not need a change in the Regulations, but rather action by WorkSafe to develop appropriate educational material and effectively communicate this to the target audience.

Lack of visible targeted regulation Existing Regulations provide an appropriate framework for the Regulator to define compliance in consultation with the duty holder. It is WorkSafe’s role to educate business holders and appropriately enforce compliance. Additional Regulation is not required .

Information constraints CCAA recognises that additional requirements for Safety Data Sheets maybe required but that this should be outlined in Guidance material rather than in Regulations.

Lack of duty holder compliance It is entirely within the scope of WorkSafe to be an effective regulator and appropriately enforce compliance. The results of the recent stone bench industry audit clearly demonstrate that the existing Regulations provide the tools to enforce compliance and there is no need for additional Regulations, just appropriate enforcement.

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Future Options

CCAA does not support any change to existing Regulations relative to extractive industry.

CCAA supports compliance to the existing WES of 0.1 mg/m 3 until Safe Work Australia publicly announce the outcomes of their WES review and for WorkSafe to only implement any new WES from that time consistent with the SWA decision.

Victoria’s regulatory environment needs to be internationally competitive to continue to attract capital to invest into Victoria to ensure a sustainable and competitive heavy construction materials industry. This in turn facilitates Victoria’s improved productivity, housing affordability and lower infrastructure costs.

The provision of affordable heavy construction materials through an efficient and safe supply chain helps to facilitate the delivery of affordable infrastructure, contributing to the completion of Victoria’s Big Build within budget.

Please do not hesitate to contact me to discuss any of these issues in more detail.

Yours sincerely

BRIAN HAUSER State Director Vic/Tas

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APPENDIX 1

CEMENT CONCRETE & AGGREGATES AUSTRALIA

MEMBERSHIP

FOUNDATION MEMBERS

Boral Construction Materials Boral Cement Limited

Cement Australia Pty Ltd Hanson Australia Pty Ltd Holcim (Australia) Pty Ltd

VICTORIA

ORDINARY MEMBERS

Alsafe Pre-Mix Concrete Pty Ltd Fulton Hogan Industries Mansfield Pre Mix Barossa Quarries Pty Ltd Hillview Quarries Pty Ltd Mentone Pre Mix Barro Group Pty Ltd Hymix Australia Pty Ltd Metro Quarry Group Pty Ltd Baxters Concrete Pty Ltd Independent Cement & Lime Pty Ltd Premier Resources T/A Hy-Tec Broadway & Frame Premix Kennedy Haulage Pty Ltd Industries Pty Ltd Concrete Pty Ltd Volumetric Concrete Australia Pty Ltd

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Agi-Kleen Pty Ltd Concrete Waterproofing Sika Australia Pty Ltd BASF Australia Pty Ltd Manufacturing Pty Ltd T/a Xypex Tieman Trailers BHS-Sonthofen (Aust) Pty Ltd Australia WAM Australia Concrete Colour Systems GCP Applied Technologies

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