Tuesday 23rd March 2021

Safety News Roundup: Tuesday 23rd March 2021

Welcome to our safety news update for Tuesday 23rd March 2021, covering major developments affecting Australia's energy and research sectors. On this date, two significant stories emerged highlighting how economic pressures and workplace incidents shape safety practices across industries.

Australia's Longest Gas Pipeline Faces Reduced Life Expectancy

Australia's longest gas pipeline has had its expected lifespan slashed due to renewable energy that could make the business unviable decades ahead of schedule.

Experts say that because changes are underway in fossil fuel industries, owners of the Dampier-to-Bunbury gas pipeline want to bring its effective end of life forward from 2090 to 2063, dramatically shortening the depreciation schedule.

Customers including Alinta and Wesfarmers have flagged opposition to the bid, saying it would add tens of millions of dollars in extra costs to users' bills over the next five years.

Gas from the pipeline is used by some of the country's most prominent industrial players, including aluminium giant Alcoa. Supply from this network also produces about 40 per cent of the electricity for WA's largest power grid.

Mr Bowen of law firm Jackson McDonald, specialising in energy, said: "The proposal was significant in a global context because it showed how radically the economics of fossil fuels were being reshaped."

He also noted that higher prices on the pipeline will result if the Economic Regulation Authority agrees to this change.

View the full story on the ABC website.

Melbourne Laboratory Explosion Leads to $1.5m Enforceable Undertaking

An explosion at the CSIRO Clayton Laboratory in 2017, which caused minor injuries to a researcher and explosive damage to the building, has seen CSIRO enter into an enforceable undertaking with Comcare.

CSIRO will spend $1.5 million to implement a range of workplace health and safety improvements following this incident.

A Comcare investigation into the explosion led to CSIRO facing four criminal charges for allegedly failing in duties under the Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act).

Comcare's Head of Regulatory Operations, Justin Napier, said: "This is a strong commitment that will deliver significant improvements at high-risk CSIRO operations across Australia."

The legal undertaking also includes technical guidance to support hazard identification in high-risk environments for new projects and equipment at CSIRO and the wider research industry. Safety improvements will be completed over 18 months.

Businesses reviewing their own safety management systems can draw lessons from this case, particularly around hazard identification protocols for high-risk laboratory settings.

Full details of this story appear on the NSCA Foundation website.

Catch Up on More Safety News

Stay informed with our ongoing coverage of workplace safety developments. Read our previous update from Tuesday 9th March 2021, or catch up on news from Tuesday 2nd March 2021.

Looking ahead, our roundup for Tuesday 30th March 2021 covers further developments from later in the month of March 2021.