Regulation 675RA of the Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations 2022 [WHS Mines Regulations] defines a mine survey plan as a document that is a plan, cross-section or 3-dimensional plan of all or part of a mine and includes a document accompanying the plan or cross-section that is supporting data or a control database.
The plan and accompanying documents can be in electronic or in paper form.
What must a mine survey plan include?
A mine survey plan must meet the requirements of regulation r. 675TA of the WHS Mines Regulations.
- The mine survey plan of an underground mine must be prepared and maintained by (or under the supervision of) an authorised mine surveyor (underground).
- The mine survey plan of a quarry operation must be prepared and maintained by (or under the supervision of) an authorised mine surveyor (quarry operation).
- The mine survey plan of a mine where an underground operation or quarry operation is carried out must be completed:
- using instruments and technologies that are fit for purpose
- to a standard that accords with good engineering practice
- to an accuracy of not less than 1:5000 or an accuracy permitted by the regulator.
- The mine survey plan must establish, in the general vicinity of the mine, a datum station which is to serve as the origin for the survey and the coordinate system used.
- The position of the datum station must be established in terms of the map coordinates and the Australian Height Datum.
- The mine survey plan must ensure that if a local grid system is used for mine surveying and management the relationship between that grid system and the map coordinates in terms of distance and with respect to true bearing is established.
- References to be used when preparing a mine survey plan are:
- The mine survey plan must show sufficient details of the workings and other features so that risk due to lack of information, so far as is reasonably practicable, is minimised and all features, including boreholes, that are necessary to identify any hazard or are necessary to deal with an emergency. The mine survey plan:
- must include any previous workings for any part of the mine that has been worked or if the mine was previously abandoned
- must ensure that any information about adjacent mines, or adjacent strata if worked, is recorded accurately
- must be drawn to a legible scale, including when it’s copied, or printed
- must include appropriate and useful additional information on the mine survey plan
- must be revised regularly to show any significant changes to the mine workings.
- The mine survey plan must show a certification by the authorised mine surveyor who prepared the plan, or supervised the preparation of the plan, that the plan is correct, and that is in, and includes information required by, an approved form.
Who is responsible for mine survey plans?
Preparing and maintaining an accurate mine survey plan is the responsibility of the mine operator and forms part of the mine safety management system.
The mine operator of a mine must take all reasonable steps to obtain historical mine surveys of the mine to ensure the accuracy of the mine survey plan.
The mine operator must keep the current mine survey plan and all previous versions of the plan available for inspection under these regulations.
Who can access a mine survey plan?
As per requirements of WHS Mines Regulations r. 675U:
- The current mine survey plan must be available at any time for a worker at the mine, or a WorkSafe Inspector.
- All previous mine survey plans must also be available on request by a WorkSafe Inspector.
Additional requirements
Submitting a mine survey plan
The preferred method of submitting mine survey plans to the department is using Ad-hoc File Transfer (AHT).
Once your mine survey plans are finalised, send an email to rsdspatial@lgirs.wa.gov.au with the name of the mine site you are submitting plans for. You will receive a response email from the department which will include the upload link.