Legislation, standards and guidelines

On 25 November 2022, the direct employment requirements came into effect. These amendments to the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 apply to the following statutory positions:

senior site executive
open cut examiner
ventilation officer
explosion risk zone (ERZ) controller
electrical engineering manager
mechanical engineering manager
underground mine manager.

As a mining or quarry operator in Queensland, you must comply with mine safety and health legislation, including:

Other laws may impact on safety and health for specific activities, including the Explosives Act 1999 and the Radiation Safety Act 1999.

This guide provides an overview of the legislation, standards and guidelines that relate to health and safety requirements for mining and quarrying operations in Queensland. It also provides an overview of bodies and individuals, such as the Mines Inspectorate, Board of Examiners and Commissioner for Mine Resources Safety and Health, that are also part of the mining safety and health framework.

Recognised standards, guidelines and guidance notes

The following recognised standards, guidelines and guidance notes relate to mining and quarrying activities in Queensland.

Recognised standards (coal mines)

Section 72(1) of the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 specifies that the Minister may make recognised standards. Standards state ways of achieving an acceptable level of risk for people working in coal mines. Operators can manage the risk in a different way but must be able to show that the method used is at least equivalent to the method in the recognised standard.

The Minister can approve recognised standards to be reviewed or developed by a Recognised Standard Tripartite Working Group (RSTWG).

Find recognised standards currently being reviewed or developed.

Guidelines (mineral mines and quarries)

Section 63(1) of the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 specifies that the Minister may make guidelines. Guidelines provide ways of achieving an acceptable standard of risk for people working in mineral mines and quarries. Operators can manage the risk in a different way but must be able to show that the method used is at least equivalent to the method in the guideline.

Naturally occurring radioactive material in metalliferous mines

QGL01: Guideline for management of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) in metalliferous mines, Version 1, July 2014 (PDF, 562KB)

Respirable dust in mineral mines and quarries

QGL02: Guideline for management of respirable dust in Queensland mineral mines and quarries, Version 4, April 2021 (PDF, 882KB)

Supporting documents for QGL02

Sampling data submissions template and guides:

Mineral mines and quarries (MMQ) occupational hygiene data template (XLSX, 451KB) Version 1 September 2023 (Chief Inspector's approved form)
MMQ how to guide for reporting occupational hygiene data (PDF, 691KB)
MMQ reporting classes (PDF, 366KB)

Search the register of occupational hygiene consultancies for available consultancies suitable for QGL02 Management of respirable dust in Queensland mineral mines and quarries.

Guideline for hazardous chemical

QGL03: Guideline for hazardous chemicals (PDF, 2.7MB)

Respiratory health surveillance

QGL04: Guideline for respiratory health surveillance of workers in Queensland mineral mines and quarries, Version 1, April 2021 (PDF, 654KB)

Supporting documents for QGL04

Health surveillance forms:

Respiratory health surveillance medical examination form (DOCX, 341KB) for mineral mine and quarry workers. This is the recommended template to be used to record the clinical findings from the respiratory health surveillance examinations and associated medical records.
Health surveillance report (DOCX, 273KB) for respiratory health surveillance of mineral mine and quarry workers. This is the recommended template to be used by the appropriate doctor to record information about any effects on a worker's health related to exposure to a respiratory hazard at a mine or quarry and the need, if any, for remedial action.

Find out more about respiratory health surveillance for mineral mine and quarry workers including finding medical providers.

Guidance notes

Guidance notes are issued to help operators meet their safety and health obligations.

Mineral mines and quarries

Coal mines

Guidelines (coal mines)

Guidelines are published by the Coal Mines Inspectorate to provide operators with ways of achieving an acceptable level of risk for people working in coal mines.

Underground coal mines: VCD Hatch Seals (PDF, 408KB)

General directives and letters

Directives

These directives, issued by the Mines Inspectorate under either the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 (PDF, 993KB) or the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 (PDF, 864KB), usually apply to a group of mines (e.g. underground coal mines). Copies of relevant sections of these directives are included here for information to industry in general:

Letters

These letters, issued by the Mines Inspectorate under either the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 (PDF, 993KB) or the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 (PDF, 864KB), usually apply to all mines or a group of mines (e.g. underground coal mines). Copies of relevant sections of these letters are included here for information to industry in general:

Mining publications and videos

Queensland Mines Inspectorate (QMI) updates

The QMI regularly publishes updates about developments affecting the industry in Queensland.

To subscribe and receive updates, click on the link below.

Safety tools and guides

The Opal and Gem Miners' Safety and Health Handbook (PDF, 3.0MB) provides advice to help opal and gem miners lower the risk of injuries.
SafeGuard is a safety and health management system and audit tool for the Queensland mining and quarrying industries. SafeGuard will help assess your operation's safety and health management system, measure its performance and ensure continuous improvement.
For more information read:
1. SafeGuard handbook (PDF, 2.3MB)
2. SafeGuard chart (PDF, 113KB).
This tool is designed to help you assess how well your operation is protected from lightning-related hazards.
For more information read:
1. Lightning protection audit tool for mines (DOC, 128KB).
This document provides information on models to adjust exposure standards for non-standard working hours.
1. Adjustment of occupational exposure limits for unusual work schedules (PDF, 205KB)

Education seminars and audit reports

The Queensland Mines Inspectorate (QMI) periodically conduct training seminars and proactive inspections and audits to identify areas for improvement and make recommendations to industry to implement. These presentations and reports are provided below.

RSHQ commissioned an expert review from the University of Queensland to consider the hazards that can arise when conducting operations during lightning activity and their relative risk to the safety of resources workers.
1. 2022 Assessing the risk of operating mining equipment during lightning storms (PDF, 4MB)
A summary of this report has been outlined in the Coal Inspectorate Bulletin No 205.
Each year one Queensland underground coal mine runs a level 1 emergency exercise to test their readiness for emergencies and the learnings help the industry boost their preparedness to respond to major emergencies.
This video discusses the learnings from the 2019 Cook Colliery and 2020 Moranbah North level 1 exercises, as well as key learnings that have been gathered over 23 years of exercises.
2019 Cook Colliery and 2020 Moranbah North Level 1 exercises (PDF, 1.2MB)
In October 2019, a coal mine worker seriously injured their wrist and forearm following the failure of a cylinder head plate when repairing a broken track link on an excavator.
Analysis of the incident provides useful lessons about the management of equipment bought onto site and questions to ask about site suppliers' testing and maintenance programs.
Track press serious harm incident (PDF, 1.8MB)
Since the introduction of the Coal Mine Workers' Health Scheme, there has been significant improvement in spirometry across the Queensland coal sector.
Find out how RSHQ reforms paved the way to quality spirometry and learn about future initiatives including ResHealth – an electronic system capturing health assessment data in real time.
Checking on the lung checks: better spirometry for miners (PDF, 1MB)
Improvements to respiratory health examinations for coal, mineral mine and quarry workers include higher quality chest X-ray standards, better training for health care professionals and a recognised standard for reporting results. RSHQ has a strict process in ensuring each component of the medical screening process is working effectively.
Quality of mine dust lung disease screening (PDF, 1.1MB)

Queensland is committed to the development of renewable hydrogen production in Australia and is rapidly scaling up a hydrogen economy.
In October 2021, the RSHQ's Petroleum and Gas Inspectorate led a webinar to discuss the development of a safety code of practice for the hydrogen industry in relation to mobility.
During 2018 the Mines Inspectorate completed a series of structured inspections focusing on diesel emissions management at all 10 operational underground coal mines. Findings and opportunities for improvement are included in this document:
1. Diesel Emission Management in Underground Coal Mines (PDF, 991KB)
As Queensland underground coal mines have become deeper and longwall production rates have increased, the quantity of methane (CH4) produced by longwall operations has also increased.
The Mines Inspectorate recently completed a series of compliance audits and requested methane gas monitoring data from 8 longwall mines so that a detailed analysis could be undertaken. The audits revealed that all mines' gas monitoring systems complied with the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 but a review of gas data indicated that some mines were not reporting all incidents over 2.5% methane. Modelling of the mines' ventilation and methane emissions has shown that in some cases explosive mixtures of methane could have been present in the atmosphere flowing into the longwall tailgate.
The Mines Inspectorate expects all underground coal mines to have effective gas monitoring systems with suitably placed methane detectors to prevent explosive accumulations of methane in areas where it could be ignited. Best practices and recommendations to achieve this are outlined in the attached document for mine operations to consider.
At the time of writing this report, the Mines Inspectorate is also developing draft amendments to the regulation to prescribe minimum methane monitoring requirements, at all relevant locations in an underground coal mine.
1. Methane management in underground coal mines: Best practice and recommendations (PDF, 1MB)
Trailing cable damage HPI criteria were developed to deliver consistency in reporting across all mine sites. This presentation shares information about the risks associated with trailing cables, provides examples of incidents and reviews data from past performance.
Trailing cable management at coal mines (PDF, 1.2MB)

When it comes to measuring airborne exposure, one of the biggest issues facing the coal industry is chemical characterisation and the Safety Data Sheet (SDS). It's important that chemicals are clearly identified so hygienists and safety professionals on mine sites are aware of what may be present and the monitoring required to measure them.
Isocyanate based resins - Airborne exposure, biological exposure monitoring, product characterisation (PDF, 1.1MB)
The 14 months from 15 November 2018 was one of the worst periods for fatalities in the recent history of Queensland mining. This presentation shares information about excavator access and egress systems and the hazards associated with them, focussing on findings and recommendations.

Safety videos

The following video is a simulation of a fatal accident that took place at Century Mine on 9 February 2004.
The following video should be used in conjunction with guidance note QGN17: Development of effective job safety analysis (PDF, 1.8MB).

Mines Inspectorate

The Mines Inspectorate's role is to ensure that acceptable safety and health standards are established and practised within the mining and quarrying industries.

It establishes safety and health legislation and standards, undertakes audits and inspections, and promotes and participates in safety and health education programs.

The Mines Inspectorate is part of Resources Safety & Health Queensland (RSHQ), the independent statutory body responsible for administering safety and health legislation in the Queensland mining, petroleum and gas, explosives and fireworks industries.

Compliance and Enforcement Policy

The Compliance and Enforcement Policy outlines the principles and practices that underpin RSHQs compliance and enforcement actions, which are a critical part of preventing serious harm to workers and the community across the Queensland resources industry.

It also provides guidance when determining a regulatory response and, when applied, will be informed by consideration of the specific circumstances of each matter.

Read the Compliance and Enforcement Policy.

Contact us

Contact a Mines Inspector directly by phone or email.

Board of Examiners

Applying for certificates of competency and SSE notices

Visit Resources Safety and Health Queensland for details on how to apply for certificates of competency and SSE notices, including new Surface Mine Manager, Mechanical Engineering Manager and Electrical Engineering Manager certificates.

If you're already in one of these roles, you may be eligible to fast-track your application with recognition of prior experience if you apply before June 2026.

This page provides information on the roles and functions of the Board of Examiners, including details on how to register for a certificate of competency and enrol in the Practising Certificate Scheme for ongoing professional development.

The Board of Examiners is established under Part 10 of the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 and Part 10 of the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999.

Role and functions

The Board's role is to set exams and issue certificates of competency to people who want to work in statutory positions in the metalliferous and coal mining industries in Queensland.

The Board of Examiners:

determines the required competencies
assesses applications
grant certificates of competency and Site Senior Executive (SSE) notices
ensures the competencies required in Queensland are consistent with those in other Australian and New Zealand jurisdictions.

Board Members as at 18 June 2024

The Board of Examiners is a tripartite body, consisting of at least 7 members with representation from operators, workers, and regulators. Each member has a minimum of 10 years of practical experience in the mining industry. Additionally, at least 6 of the members must be currently active in the mining sector.

Member	Appointed	Term of appointment ends
Jacques le Roux (Chair) (Chief Inspector of Coal Mines) Ex-Officio Appointment	3 February 2023	1 January 2050
Adam Barton	18 June 2024	17 June 2027
Angela Dow	4 June 2023	3 June 2026
Deon Esterhuizen	18 June 2024	17 June 2027
Hermann Fasching (Chief Inspector of Mines and Quarries)	Ex-Officio Appointment	1 January 2050
Leslie Marlborough	4 June 2023	3 June 2026
Martin Filar	18 June 2024	17 June 2027
Matthew Way	4 June 2023	3 June 2026
Neville Stanton	4 June 2023	3 June 2026
Stephen Watts	4 June 2023	3 June 2026
William Davison	18 June 2024	17 June 2027

Certificates of competency

The Board of Examiners assess applicants' suitability for certificates of competency and SSE notices under the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 and the Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999.

Learn about how to apply, assessment and other related information on the RSHQ website.

Practising Certificate Scheme

The Practising Certificate Scheme online portal is accessible to all certificate of competency and notice holders.

Registration to the Practising Certificate Scheme is mandatory for all certificate of competency and notice holders employed in statutory positions. This requirement became legislated on 10 June 2025.

The Practising Certificate Scheme has been developed by the Board of Examiners and closes out the recommendation from the 1994 Moura No.2 disaster, and subsequent inquiry report (from 3 January 1996), which states "certificate holders maintain a sound knowledge base on, and keep abreast of, technical developments in coal mining and most particularly those relevant to coal mine safety".

It further aligns with contemporary continuing professional development required of high hazard industries and professions, allowing alignment with other mining jurisdictions to enable transferability of certificates.

Details of how to register and maintain a practising certificate is detailed in the Practising Certificate Scheme guide (PDF, 490KB). Prior to registering, also ensure you read the requirements and instructions. Once registered, you can start recording your continuing professional development activities.

Strategic plan

The Board of Examiners strategic plan outlines the vision and direction for the next 4 years, providing a comprehensive roadmap for our future. It details our goals and objectives, emphasizing our commitment to drive efficiency, improve quality and consistency and equip for industry change.

Through this plan, we aim to continually safeguard competency standards to empower effective, sustainable safety and health leadership. This strategic framework is designed to guide our efforts and measure our progress as we work towards achieving our long-term mission and vision.

View the Board of Examiners Strategic Plan 2024–2028 (PDF, 496KB).

Policies

Our policies are the foundation of our operations, ensuring consistency, fairness, and transparency. They are designed to guide our decision-making processes and uphold the highest standards of integrity and professionalism.

These policies are reviewed and updated to reflect best practices and evolving industry standards, ensuring that we remain responsive to changing needs while maintaining a strong commitment to our core values.

Contact us

Board of Examiners Secretary
Resources Safety and Health
GPO Box 1321
BRISBANE QLD 4001

Phone: (07) 3199 8037
Email: BOESecretary@rshq.qld.gov.au

Also consider...

Find out how to apply for mining certificates required for statutory positions in coal and mineral mines and quarries.
Read the annual reports of the Board of Examiners for more information on its membership and activities.

Compliance and Enforcement Policy

The Resources Safety and Health Queensland Compliance and Enforcement Policy outlines principles and practices used by our inspectors when investigating incidents that have occurred in the resources industry in Queensland.

The policy helps to protect the safety and health of resources industry workers and the Queensland community from serious harm by ensuring that:

the risk of injury or illness resulting from regulated/authorised activities is at an acceptable level
obligation-holders receive the support, guidance, and information necessary to discharge their safety and health obligations
industry, workers and the community have confidence in Queensland's resources safety and health framework.