Reporting explosives incidents

Under the Explosives Act 1999, the Chief Inspector of Explosives must be notified of explosives incidents as soon as possible.

These notifications are essential to ensure the community remains safe from the adverse effects of explosives and enable us to respond appropriately.

Separate notifications may also be required to the Queensland Police Service, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, and other government departments or agencies.

What needs to be notified

The Explosives Inspectorate must be notified if one of the following events occurs in relation to an explosive:

• actual or apparent loss or theft of explosives
• attempted theft or security threat
• accidental explosion, fire or spillage
• death of or an injury to a person
• unexpected damage to property
• an event, including a misfire that has the potential to cause any of the above.

Examples of explosives incidents that need to be notified are:

• explosives stolen or missing from a magazine
• explosives inventory/daily use records that don't align with stock on hand
• spills of an explosive
• unauthorised access to an explosive
• loss of control of explosives
• vehicle incidents involving explosives transport or manufacturing vehicles
• misfires identified prior to firing, post firing, or during excavation
• fume event that breaches the exclusion zone, or causes an unplanned evacuation of people
• flyrock that goes beyond the nominated exclusion zone
• people breaching explosives exclusion zones.

Call the Explosives Inspectorate on 1300 739 868 for advice if you have any doubts about whether an event needs to be reported.

Explosives incidents on a mine site

Where an explosives incident has occurred on a mining lease it must be reported by the Site Senior Executive, via the RSHQ Portal.

In the notification, answer 'Yes' to the question, 'Does the Explosives Inspectorate need to be notified?'—this will satisfy the requirement to notify the Chief Inspector of Explosives.

Explosives incidents not on a mine site

If the incident has occurred anywhere other than a mining lease, it must be reported by either the authority holder whose explosives are involved in the incident, or the relevant person who was in custody or control of the explosives at the time of the incident, using the approved incident notification form (PDF, 708KB).

Ensure you have the following information available before completing the incident notification form:

• address or GPS coordinates of the incident location
• date and time of the incident
• description of the incident, including person's actions, equipment involved, the activity being undertaken and any other relevant factors
• name of explosive involved and as much information about the explosive as possible (e.g. quantity involved, UN number, class/division, batch number, manufacturer, date of manufacture)
• information regarding emergency services and other agencies involved, evacuations, security, media presence, witnesses and any vehicles involved if known
• any photos or documents relevant to the incident to attach to the notification.

You may also notify by calling the 24/7 Explosives Emergency Hotline on 1300 739 868.

Incident management and safety and security management systems

Your safety and security management system (SSMS) must include systems and clear procedures for reporting and investigating incidents, including:

• the process to complete and submit an explosives incident notification
• incident investigation methodologies
• verifications that controls to prevent incident re-occurrence are implemented and effective.

You should also keep a record of:

• all incidents that have occurred
• incident investigations for all incidents that have occurred
• evidence that investigation recommendations or new/additional/modified controls are implemented into the safety and security management system
• events that trigger legislative review of security and safety plans.