SAFE MINES SAFE WORKERS

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1 SAFE MINES SAFE WORKERS SUBMISSION TO THE MINISTRY OF BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND EMPLOYMENT 2 JULY 2013 ABOUT IPENZ The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) is the lead national professional body representing the engineering profession in New Zealand. It has approximately 15,000 Members, including a cross-section from engineering students, to practising engineers, to senior Members in positions of responsibility in business. IPENZ is non-aligned and seeks to contribute to the community in matters of national interest giving a learned view on important issues, independent of any commercial interest. Members of the wider engineering profession work within three occupational groups professional engineers, engineering technologists and engineering technicians for whom IPENZ maintains registers, sets and enforces competence and ethical standards. SCOPE OF THIS SUBMISSION The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is consulting on proposals for implementing a number of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy. One of the proposals relates to strengthening training and competency requirements for identified safety critical roles in mining operations. Two engineering-related safety-critical roles have been identified the Electrical Engineering Manager and the Mechanical Engineering Manager. IPENZ has considerable knowledge and experience training and undertaking competency assessments for the engineering profession. We wish to comment specifically on the proposal in respect of these proposed engineering roles and functions. Before making comments on the proposal we provide background information on New Zealand s occupational regulation for professional engineers, engineering technologists, engineering technicians and tradespeople for the Ministry s information. Page 1 of 7

2 BACKGROUND NEW ZEALAND S OCCUPATIONAL REGULATION FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS IPENZ is the Registration Authority under the Chartered Professional Engineers Act 2002 (CPEng Act) and is required to maintain rules that prescribe standards of competence for registration and ethical conduct. These rules are regulations and part of New Zealand law. The CPEng Act established the Chartered Professional Engineers Council which is responsible for: Reporting annually to the Minister and Parliament on the performance of the Registration Authority s functions Being the first appeals body on both registration and disciplinary matters Approving standards prepared by the Registration Authority. The CPEng Act does not set competence standards but requires the Registration Authority to prepare and maintain suitable standards of competence and ethical conduct. The process for making or changing standards involves consultation and taking into account international best practice, and satisfying the Chartered Professional Engineers Council that the required process has been adhered to. The Rules containing standards were approved in late 2002 and have had one change made the maximum period between competence assessments was extended from five to six years effective from 1 January The initial assessment to become a Chartered Professional Engineer is aligned to the agreed international exemplar of competencies for a professional engineer in the International Professional Engineers and APEC Engineer Agreements. The requirements for continued registration as a Chartered Professional Engineer are unique to New Zealand, requiring an assessment of current competence, rather than relying solely on continued professional development as is common in other jurisdictions. Candidates must provide evidence they are still able to practice competently as a professional engineer to retain their CPEng registration. Inputbased evidence (such as qualifications, time performing work) is no measure of competence what is critical is how well an engineer is able to acquire and apply knowledge skilfully in his or her everyday engineering activities. The CPEng quality mark is based on the minimum standard of competence required for an independent practitioner. However, the Building Act requires engineers working in the dam safety area to perform certain functions which are considered to be slightly above the standard of competence of a CPEng. Accordingly, it has prescribed the specific skills a competent engineer would require to perform these functions and has given a specific designation for engineers who meet this standard namely Recognised Engineers. The Registration Authority undertakes assessment of Recognised Engineers as part of the CPEng assessment process but appoints a panel consisting of at least one specially trained dam safety engineer to perform the further assessment. The specific skills required are set out in regulations issued under the Building Act. IPENZ is a qualifications issuing agency under the Health and Safety in Employment (Pressure Equipment, Cranes, and Passenger Ropeways) Regulations 1999 and applies a similar approach to that of Recognised Engineers for the assessment of design verifiers. The specific skills required are described in guidelines available to assessors and candidates. IPENZ is a signatory to the APEC Engineer and the International Professional Engineers Agreements within the International Engineering Alliance. These Page 2 of 7

3 agreements are based on an internationally agreed exemplar standard of competence for professional engineers. Each signatory jurisdiction must be reviewed at intervals not exceeding six years. New Zealand has been subject to review under these agreements (the most recent review was in ) and has demonstrated it adheres to international good practice in terms of its procedures and systems for assessing the entry level standard to the engineering profession. The next review is in six years as approved at the International Engineering Alliance meetings in Korea in June NEW ZEALAND S OCCUPATIONAL REGULATION FOR ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGISTS, TECHNICIANS AND TRADESPEOPLE IPENZ has established registers of current competence for both engineering technologists and engineering technicians under the IPENZ Regulations for Competence Registers, which mirror the CPEng Rules. A recent addition is a register for Professional Engineering Geologists, with the first cohort of registrants being registered in April These IPENZ regulations, although having no statutory standing, replicate the same code of ethical conduct, complaints and disciplinary processes as the CPEng Rules. There are similar appeal procedures but these are heard by IPENZ as there is no equivalent to the Chartered Professional Engineers Council to hear appeals in relation to CPEng registrants. For engineering technologists there is no statutory register. IPENZ does, however, manage a register of Engineering Technology Practitioners who have undertaken an assessment of current competence as Engineering Technologists in the last five years. The competence standard for engineering technologists is structured on the CPEng competence standard but focused on broadly defined engineering. It is aligned with the international exemplar and the international register (International Engineering Technologist register) for engineering technologists. Registrants are able to use the ETPract post-nominal. The Engineering Associates Act 1961 applies to those working as engineering technicians, although the legislation has not been updated to introduce competencebased registration criteria or require periodic re-demonstration of competence. IPENZ maintains a register of Certified Engineering Technicians who have undertaken assessment in the last five years and demonstrated competence as Engineering Technicians against a competence standard based on well-defined engineering activities. Registrants are able to use the CertETn post-nominal. For engineering trades, there are a number of relevant regulations, particularly for those practising as electrical workers, plumbers, gas fitters, drainlayers and those working as independently qualified persons under the Building Act Page 3 of 7

4 SUBMISSION THE PROPOSED ENGINEERING ROLES We note the proposal recommends mining operations covered by the new regulatory regime include a range of operations not limited to underground coal mines. These include operations involving the extraction of coal, alluvial and quartz gold, and iron sands and the associated quarries and tunnels. The consultation document proposes two new safety critical positions at all mining operations the Electrical Engineering Manager and the Mechanical Engineering Manager. The responsibilities of these positions include: Monitoring the implementation of the electrical/mechanical engineering control plans Supervising the analysis, design and maintenance of electrical/mechanical systems (and in the case of the electrical engineer this includes power, electronic control, signals and telecommunications systems) In the case of the Mechanical Engineering manager, selection and operation of mechanically powered machinery for production purposes Advising the Site Senior Executive of health and safety standards for electrical/mechanical engineering. It is proposed the New Zealand Mining Board of Examiners be responsible for setting the standards (of competency) and assessing applicants against those standards. IPENZ wishes to respond to five aspects of proposal: The basis of the new regulatory regime Competence levels and standards The need for consistency The Board of Examiners Risks in replicating Australian occupational regulation in New Zealand. THE BASIS OF THE NEW REGULATORY REGIME The proposed new regulatory regime is based on Principal Hazard Management Plans and Principal Control Plans. These identify the hazards, assess the risks and design appropriate controls measures for mining operations during the design and development stages, before any production commences. We endorse this approach and consider it is at these planning and design stages particularly that appropriate engineering competence should be applied. COMPETENCE LEVELS AND STANDARDS We consider the roles of Electrical Engineering Manager and the Mechanical Engineering Manager to be safety critical engineering roles. We also think the skillsets required to fulfil these roles will cover a range of levels of knowledge and competence, from technician to professional engineer, depending on the type and complexity of mining operation, and the types of hazards being managed. If engineering analysis and design is required, the ability to supervise this Page 4 of 7

5 appropriately may in many cases require a higher level of knowledge and competency than that envisaged in the proposal. We assume, therefore, the knowledge and competency standards will be tailored to the levels of technical complexity and risks expected to be managed at various types of mining operation. A one size fits all approach would not be appropriate. For example, the proposal recommends that the engineering managers hold an educational standard at the National Diploma level with competencies in risk management and occupational health and safety management. A National Diploma in Engineering is the benchmark educational standard for registration as an engineering technician. We consider a higher level of competence would be required to deal with any mining environment of medium to high complexity. More generally, we note the consultation document proposes the competence standards be based on qualifications. IPENZ does not support this approach. Using a qualification-based competence standard is risky as there is no guarantee (i) the person maintains his or her level of knowledge (that is, the value of the qualification diminishes with time), and that (ii) the person is able to artfully apply the knowledge. The minimum standard for registration on the CPEng register is prescribed in regulations (the CPEng Rules) and requires a person to demonstrate he or she is able to practice competently as a professional engineer in his or her practice area. To remain on the register a registrant must demonstrate at intervals not exceeding six years that he or she is still able to practice competently in his or her practice area. This concept of current competence is fundamental to all IPENZ registers (engineer, technologist, and technician). IPENZ recommends occupational regulation for mining adopt the same principles to ensure a consistent occupational regulation across all engineering activities in New Zealand. THE NEED FOR CONSISTENCY Internationally four categories of engineer are recognised based on the complexity of engineering work undertaken professional engineers, engineering technologists, engineering technicians and engineering trades. IPENZ believes performance-based occupational regulation is appropriate for professional engineers, engineering technologists and engineering technicians but may not be so for engineering trades. For complex engineering work Chartered Professional Engineers (or equivalents) are required to make decisions based on competence and judgement. This could not be achieved within a more prescriptive system. Mining engineering regulation should be consistent with, and ideally integrated with, existing engineering occupational regulation. IPENZ believes mining engineers operating at the professional level in New Zealand should be required to be Chartered Professional Engineers, as this would ensure they have been through a rigorous process to demonstrate their current competence. If it is considered that certain functions related to mining safety need to be undertaken by engineers with a higher level of skill than for CPEng, IPENZ suggests those skills be identified and prescribed as a class of CPEng with a special designation of mining engineer. This situation would be similar to the arrangements for dam safety. The Registration Authority could then establish a new register for such engineers and undertake assessments against the higher standard using such engineers in the assessment process. It would particularly be relevant to use professional engineers of CPEng level, or a specialist class with higher skills, during the planning and implementation Page 5 of 7

6 stages of any new mining operation where Principal Hazard Management Plans and Principal Control Plans are being prepared. The system for occupational regulation also needs to be considered in the international context. As noted above, IPENZ is New Zealand s signatory to the APEC Engineer and the International Professional Engineers Agreements within the International Engineering Alliance. These agreements are based on an internationally agreed exemplar standard of competence for professional engineers. IPENZ is also a signatory to the International Engineering Technologists Agreement which benchmarks the engineering technologist level. These agreements are important as they enable engineers competence to be recognised in other countries. This is important in engineering which is a relatively mobile profession. THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS IPENZ already has an operational system for assessing and registering engineers and professional engineering geologists. As mining is reliant on competent practitioners from these professions, we recommend that our existing infrastructure be considered as a viable alternative to establishing the Board of Examiners. Adopting this approach would avoid duplication and enable rapid implementation of a proven and tested system. Changes to the CPEng Act that broaden the powers of the Registration Authority and the Chartered Professional Engineers Council could help expedite this. As a comparator, in South Africa, a mining-rich country, the Engineering Council of South Africa manages the accreditation, and register, of professional engineers, engineering technologists and engineering technicians. IPENZ understands mining engineers, technologists and technicians can seek registration via the Engineering Council of South Africa. This model could work equally well in New Zealand for mining engineering professionals. RISKS IN REPLICATING AUSTRALIAN OCCUPATIONAL REGULATION FOR MINING IN NEW ZEALAND In Australia regulation for mining is variable between states. In Queensland the Board of Professional Engineers Queensland sets the standards of practice required for all professional engineers. The Board has approved the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) to assess the competence of engineers practising in the areas of mining, environmental, geotechnical (mining) and metallurgical engineering. In addition the Board of Professional Engineers Queensland has approved four other assessment entities - Engineers Australia to assess general areas of engineering; the Institution of Fire Engineers, Australia (IFE) to assess Fire Engineering; the Institution of Chemical Engineers to assess Chemical Engineering; and the Royal Institute of Naval Architects (RINA) to assess Naval Architecture. New Zealand currently has a single body (IPENZ) which regulates both nationally and across all engineering disciplines. This is considered to be a significant advantage in delivering a consistent regulatory framework and avoiding fragmentation of the engineering profession. We believe that there are risks in adopting a separate approach for mining engineers. We are also concerned that the New Zealand mining environment has certain characteristics that are significantly different to the Australian environment. These include the seismic and geological nature associated with New Zealand s position straddling the edge of two tectonic plates. These differences cannot be overlooked when developing occupational regulation for such an important sector as mining. Page 6 of 7

7 CONCLUSION IPENZ believes there is close alignment between the proposal to regulate the mining profession and systems and processes already in place for occupational regulation of the wider engineering profession. IPENZ has substantial skills and experience in competency based regulation systems and believes it could bring significant value to the regulatory changes being proposed in the mining sector by leveraging off the existing framework. We look forward to working with MBIE in developing regulation for engineers in this safety critical sector. Dr Andrew Cleland Chief Executive, phone or Brett Williams - Director Learning & Assessment, phone or Dir-LA@ipenz.org.nz Page 7 of 7