Dirty 4 Money - Mining Jobs in WA, Australian Mining Jobs, Mining Tickets, Tradesman Jobs

So there's a New Brown Book in town...

And it thinks it's going to take over, well in time it may just do that.

The Brown Book is a new Log Book for the Global Resources Industry,
Its made for all tradesman,Operators and major companies and
business's such as the following below are taking advantage of
it's capabilities to increase industry standards:

 Baulderstone
Origin Alliance
Abi Group Contractors
Bauer Australia
John Holland
McConnell Dowell
AVO Pilling
South Spur Rail
Bovis Lend Lease
Rio Tinto

So what it all about you ask?

You can Log all your Industry experience and previous work you
have done throughout Australia or Over Seas in the Resources Industry, Keeping record of your skills will help keep track of the work you
have done previously and increase employment opportunites when presenting Recruiters or companies your Brown Book.

Some of the Contents you can expect to see in the Brown Book:

• Competency;
• Skills;
• Experience;
• Training;
• Qualifications;
• General Inductions
• Site Specific Inductions;
• Work / Task Specific Inductions;
• Competency Assessments;
• Specific Plant, Machinery or Equipment operated or involved;
• Location & duration of work / task activity, training & assessments

So don't be shy! check the website to purchase your own.

www.thebrownbook.com.au

Buy now the brown book now > Buy Here

Australia today has a new Prime Minister, with Kevin Rudd being removed from power in a leadership spill from within his own party.  What does this mean for the future of the proposed Resource Super Profits Tax (RSPT)?  Will there be changes to the tax under new PM Julia Gillard?

 

Rudd was the creator and most ardent supporter of the RSPT.  It would appear this tax, and the battle with the mining industry that resulted from it's announcement, has now seen his personal undoing and loss of power.  Since the announcement of the tax his standings in public opinion polls have nosedived, and it appears his own party have decided that with him at the helm they cannot win the next election, due in the next twelve months.  Rudd had expected the public to rally around his attack on mining companies and their "super profits" and "fat cat" directors.  He misjudged the Australian public's intelligence and their understanding of what benefits mining brings to the country.

   

As I mentioned last week, if the fight achieves nothing else, the media campaigns like that run by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) have done wonders for improving the public perception of the mining industry, the benefits it brings to our country, and the quality and diversity of the people who work in it. 

   

Obviously the fight has achieved more than that too, as the MCA now have the scalp they were after.

   

So what now for RSPT?

The RSPT is a labour party policy, strongly backed by all parts of the party (in public anyway), and particularly the now Deputy PM, Wayne Swan. So it seems very unlikely that the policy will go away. Labour already faces significant criticism over the number of failed or withdrawn policies during their time in office. Another back flip on major policy would be the last bullet the opposition would need to take the election.

As any leader who arrives in a new position knows, Ms Gillard has the chance to make some changes and strategy shifts that the previous leader would have found difficult.  She can say that she supported the RSPT because it was the right thing to do, but now thinks there’s a better way to go about things.

   

As I see it there’s four possible ways this could go:

 

1. Proceed as Planned.  Gillard may believe in the RSPT in its current form as strongly as Rudd did.  She still has Swan beside her who can’t back down on his support for it, as he had been such a strong supporter.  There were a number of reasons leading to Rudd’s ousting, but the RSPT battle does appear to have been a major factor.  The RSPT is also being blamed for the general decline of Labour support in the polls.  If Gillard decides to continue as planned with implementing the tax and only consulting with industry on transitional issues, the MCA will continue their fight and Labour election chances may remain just as doubtful. 

PROBABILITY = 5%

 

2. Scrap it Altogether.  Well this would certainly win her some favour with the mining industry, but scrapping the RSPT plan has some major problems:

   - It’s widely thought that a profits-based tax of some sort is the right way to tax resources, there’s just disagreement about the way the RSPT proposed to do it.

   - It would be another back flip on major policy that was supposed to benefit the many at the cost of the few (the first being the deferral of the Emissions Trading Scheme).  The government would get eaten alive with backing down completely on a policy they were so adamant in supporting.

   - Their budget projections would be destroyed.  The budget released this year showed a return to surplus coming sooner than expected and general a healthy state of affairs for the country going forward.  All of this was underpinned by the tax money from the RSPT.  The budget projections are what the government is using to demonstrate their “economic credentials”.  Removing the RSPT would mean redoing the whole budget and future projections.

   - The RSPT is part of a range of tax measures, including decreases in company tax rates (benefiting all companies), and increasing the amount all employees receive into the superannuation accounts (for readers outside Australia, superannuation is compulsory retirement savings paid for by employers).  Removing the RSPT might mean they need to take these things off the table too, making a lot of business owners and shareholders pretty unhappy.

PROBABILITY = 1%

 

3. Delay.  Just as they did with the Emissions Trading Scheme, the government could delay a decision on the RSPT until their next term.  They could effectively go back and start from scratch with consultation and development of a profits-based tax plan.  However, there are big downsides for delaying, just like for scrapping – it would be yet another back flip, their big plans for healthy budgets and a return to surplus would have to change, and they would also be forced to defer the superannuation increases and company tax cuts that were the upsides coming out of the original tax review.  Also, this would mean that the election would be even more about the RSPT, as a vote for labour would essentially be a vote giving them a mandate to bring the RSPT in.

PROBABILITY = 10%

 

4. Back to the drawing board.  The most likely way forward is for Gillard to say she still supports the RSPT in principle (which many mining companies do too), but that she acknowledges there some major issues that need addressing.  She can clean the slate of all the details of the plan, but maintain the policy of bringing in a profits-based resource tax.  She can restart the consultation process and come up with an even better system than what the RSPT proposed. 

This would make the mining industry and the MCA very happy.  They’re not against the whole thing, the just want a say in how its put together.  It would help Gillard win labour voters who had gone off Rudd the man but still support the party.

She stills runs the risk of it looking like a back flip or a back down to the mining companies (who she’s fought so hard against in the industrial relations areas).  But it will be how she and the party present, handle and spin it that will make the difference.  They can basically blame everything on Rudd and his ego, and just say he wouldn’t let anyone else have a say and that they always had some concerns.  Swan can keep as quiet as he can, and also say he was just going along with Rudd.

PROBABILITY = 84%

 

Going back to the drawing board on the details while maintaining the policy direction is the most likely path forward from here.  There’s difficulties for Gillard in this approach around keeping the budget expectations high, and making sure they don’t look like they wimped out under pressure from the mining companies.  But they have Rudd as a scapegoat, and I suspect they won’t be afraid to use him.

So it will be interesting to see what happens from here.  We can expect Gillard and Swan to go into lockdown for a while to figure out a strategy.  Everyone (the public and the mining industry both) will be waiting eagerly to see what they will do about the RSPT.

 

- Jamie Ross

Mining Man - Great Ideas for Leaders in the Mining Industry

Click here to sign up for our newsletter or to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

  

Other Mining Man Posts:

Keep Mining Strong Television Commericals  

Mining Industry Financial Basics series 

I think the tide is slowly turning against our current government. There is a back lash from the working class of Australia, which Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has not banked on.
He was very quick to jump on the American type band wagon concerning the way the mining industry goes about it's extraction of minerals which affects the enviroment. It is very upsetting, that the United States is facing this massive oil spill on there own and some might say that they have bought it on themselves in someway.
Do the leaders of these countries understand that they are playing with peoples lives,their very livelyhoods.

It's not the big companies that will hurt over this tax, it is always the little guys that have to battle and this will have a ripple affect on the worlds markets.

I ask you.........!
Do you think Germany can withstand anymore pressure than what it is facing at present? They are already supporting countries like Spain,Ireland and Greece..... if they were to have a tax such as this, it would bury the Euro forever.

Dan Voelte head of Woodside Petroleum.

The head of one of Australia’s biggest industries today warned that the country is heading for major skill shortages that would damage Australia’s economy.

Don Voelte is head of Woodside Petroleum, one of Australia’s biggest energy industries in oil and gas. Woodside have also announced plans to expand their gas fields, which would create thousands of new jobs.

Major new expansion projects include Gorgon, Browse and Pluto which Voelte say will need thousands of skilled workers and if the workers are not available then the industry will suffer more, he says, than the controversial mining super tax.

According to Voelte the skills shortage that the company is suffering is so bad that “about 35 per cent of the 4,000 workers on the Pluto gas project in the Pilbara were forced to be fly-in, fly-out workers who are based in the eastern states.”

The Federal Minister for Immigration, Chris Evans, has according to a report by International Business Times, acknowledged the skilled worker crisis and has said that the Australian Immigration Department will react accordingly. He has promised that changes being brought about in the Australian immigration program will ensure that employers get the right skilled workers when they need them, “we’re trying to get to an employer-driven scheme where they bring in the skills they need.” He said.

One of the changes the DIAC are considering is the controversial amendment to the Australian visa capping and ceasing Bill which is expected to be passed in a week’s time. This will give the Senator the power to cap and cease individual attributes in visa applications rather than having to cap or cease entire visa subclasses.

 
Source: www.embraceaustralia.com 

TheResourceChannel.com.au  have provided a recent report exposing the demand for trades people over the next few years in Australia. 

Wether or not the recent super tax will effect these Future projects is up to the Australian Government and Australian people to decide. 

For the period 2010 to 2016, approximately 101,000 direct construction jobs and approximately 19,936 permanent operational jobs will be created. Even without Project Boomerang (see details below), which may or may not proceed/be overstated, the number of construction jobs for the same period is 66,000 and the number of operational roles is 11,936.

2009 – 2010

Pluto LNG Project; Woodside, Western Australia
3,000 construction and 1,000 operational

(Note: Trains 2 and 3 have also recently been approved which will extend both the timeframe and construction job numbers)

Read more: http://www.theresourcechannel.com.au/blog/pluto-lng-project-western-australia 

Read more - Click Here

 

I wish i had the money to be over at Yankee Stadium in New York tonight to watch the Cotto fight.

Looks like it's going to be a good one.

Xstrata mining has made futher changes in the wake of this "super government tax"........they have slashed a half a billion dollars off their books.
Down sizing in every deptment across Australia, and i'm sure that this will mean there is going to be some major job losses in the industry.

Eg. Number 2 Concentrator have let go 25 people from this one area (Mt.isa) which basically means you could have 25 local houses up for sale. That is a lot out of one community to be looking for work or having to simply sell up and move on.

One of the workers to let go,had been with the company for over 30 years.

Rudd has got to be given his marching orders......

As of this afternoon, Xstrata mines have stop all upcoming planned works because of this new mining tax.
Mt Isa area....so far stopped George Fisher projects and at the main lease in town.
This problem is going to continue so everyone may need to tighten their belts until Australia can vote out our current Prime minister.

Has anyone ever successfully "Tipped a cow " over. I know this sounds strange,but i was reminded over a week ago i had attempted this very feat in my youth.
I was travelling around the world, and one of my many adventures through the Welsh countryside.... i was coached into attempting this act by a close friend who will remain nameless.You know who you are...that girl from New Zealand.....i know it,you know it ! Now living in Melbourne.
And yes we were very drunk.......

But the attempt was made...and very unsuccessful.

Any thoughts on this subject !

So you’ve been invited to a Risk Assessment?  Not sure why you’ve been invited or what is going to happen there?  Not sure how you can best contribute?  Here’s Mining Man’s four tips on what to expect in a team risk assessment session, including the terminology you might hear, how the process might work, and how you can best contribute.

If you’ve been asked (or told) to attend a “Risk Assessment” but have never participated in one before, it’s likely that you’re a little unsure about exactly what is involved and why you’re being asked to contribute. 

Risk assessments have become an extremely common tool used in the mining industry to look at work procedures, pieces of equipment, plant setups, new practices or system and basically anything else you can think of in a mining operation.  Risk assessments are typically carried out whenever there is something new or something has changed. 

There are a range of different risk assessments we perform on a mine site, from an on-the-job hazard assessment (like we talked about in this article), through to a team talk before a job starts, right up to a full, formal, documented risk assessment.  It is this final formal type that we are focussing on today – the type where you will receive an invitation to attend a session lasting from a few hours to a few days.

          

What to Expect

A formal risk assessment usually involves a team of people working through a structured process that involves the following steps (you can find definitions of some of the key terms later in this article):

1. Defining the task steps or areas of focus
2. Identifying hazards in each area
3. Assessing the risk associated with each hazard
4. Deciding what further controls are needed

       

A facilitator will run the session, and his job is to help everyone understand the process and tools that will be used, and to keeps everyone on track.  The facilitator will explain the process at the start of the session, but there is a lot of value in just waiting to see how the process works by actually watching as it gets underway.

The team will be between four people up to 10-15 if necessary.  The team will include people from all over the mine site with all sorts of different jobs and experience.

Many parts of the risk assessment process involve the group “brainstorming” and discussing ideas.  It is important that everyone gets a chance to have their say, and that all ideas are captured, so make sure you throw in your ideas at each stage of the process.  The entire process is based on the groups’ opinions, consensus and (wherever possible) agreement.  You won’t be required to do anything by yourself, but the team only works when everyone contributes!

     

Why You've been Invited

When carrying out a risk assessment, it is vital that a wide range of people attend and have their input.  Different people have different experiences and are also going to be doing different roles relating to whatever it is you are carrying out the risk assessment on.  It is very important that a range of people from different roles are represented in the risk assessment team – so you should find yourself in the session with some people you don’t usually work with, and some people you do.  It’s the range of views and opinions that makes the risk assessment process so thorough and worthwhile.

So you will have been invited because you bring a unique viewpoint or experience to the team which is necessary to make sure the process and outcomes are thorough.  You’re a key member and the team can’t do it without you!

      

Terminology you will hear

Hazard – a situation or energy source with the potential to hurt someone or have a negative impact on the environment or the business

Risk – a combination of the likelihood of a hazard causing a negative outcome and the consequence if this hazard does occur.  Usually has a classification such as low, medium, high, or a numerical ranking

Likelihood – how likely it is that a hazard will turn into something negative (i.e. the probability of an accident resulting from the particular hazard)

Consequence – the negative impact that could result from a hazard (i.e. the injury that might result)

Risk Matrix – a table on which we look up the likelihood and the consequence of a hazard to find out what risk level the hazard has.  Each individual mining company will have a different matrix, but it might look something like the one at the end of this article.  You’ll be given the one for your company at the session.

Acceptable Risk – each company will define the level of risk which they consider acceptable.  We can’t remove all risk, so we need to define what we will accept.  This should be shown on the company’s risk matrix.  We are always trying to reduce the risk to below this level, but this is the maximum we can accept.

ALARA / ALARP – As Low As Reasonably Achievable or As Low As Reasonably Practical.  This is our aim, to get our risk levels down as low as we reasonably can.  We can’t reduce the risks to zero, but we need to do as much as we reasonably and practically can to reduce them.

Controls – the things we do to lower a risk or prevent a hazard becoming an injury (i.e. PPE, guarding, procedures, training)

Actions – The controls we decide are important to manage risks are not worth anything unless they are actually put into action.  An important step in the risk assessment is to record exactly who will take action on the controls, what they will do, and when they will do it by.

Residual Risk – Once we have done all we can to reduce the risk on a particular hazard to ALARA or ALARP, there will still be some risk there (we can rarely get it down to no risk without eliminating the job all together).  The amount of risk that remains after we’ve put our controls in place is called the residual risk.

    

How to Contribute

My best advice is to go into the process (like you should with anything you are new to) with an open mind and take the time at the start of the day to see how things work and understand the process.  Risk assessments are an extremely powerful tool for improving safety and operations when they are done well and when the team works together with good discussions and everyone contributing.

Risk assessments are a chance to influence safety for a long time to come, and should be seen as a forum for doing that.

      

For each topic area that the team is looking at, just work through the following five questions over and over:

What could go wrong?

What would happen if it did go wrong?

How likely is it to go wrong?

What can we do to reduce the chance of it going wrong?

What can we do to reduce the impacts if something does go wrong?

This is the general pattern of all risk assessments (in very simple terms).  We use a structured process, a highly paid facilitator, and a big table for recording and the results - but in general it is the five steps about that we follow over and over to make sure we’ve covered every hazard.

     

Make sure you are thinking about things that could realistically happen, while also keeping in mind and discussing with the group any extreme outcomes that might be very unlikely.  A good risk assessment team will consider things which could easily happen but the outcome is not too severe (i.e. a first aid treatment), as well as things with serious outcomes but which are unlikely to happen (i.e. a slip or trip resulting in a fatality).

       

Summary

Risk assessments are an extremely valuable tool for managing safety across all areas of the mining process.  But their success depends on the team involved being proactive, thoughtful, and committed to finding practical solutions to the hazards which they uncover.

Go into the session armed with the tips above and an attitude of wanting to make a different to safety, and you should find the day interesting, challenging and enjoyable.

All the best, have a safe and productive week.

 

- Jamie Ross

Mining Man – Leadership, Safety, Productivity and Financial Advice

           

Become a fan on Facebook, or signup here to get new posts sent straight to your inbox!

      

Most Popular Mining Man Posts this Month:

Hazard Identification (including links to download our task analysis and hazard ID templates)

Mining Financial Basics Series

How Social Media can Benefit the Mining Industry

Working Alone - Safety Topic

How to Prepare for your Performance Review

 

Sample Risk Assessment Matrix: