Safety Legislation Welcomed By Petroleum Industry

The petroleum industry today welcomed new legislation providing for the safety needs of large-scale hazardous facilities such as refineries, factories and storage places in Queensland.

"The Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act 2001 passed by Parliament today is progressive legislation developed by the Department of Emergency Services in close consultation with industry including the Australian Institute of Petroleum (AIP)," said AIP Executive Director Bryan Nye.

"The Beattie Government is to be congratulated for taking a proactive approach to community safety and introducing legislation that was streamlined and easier for industry to work with.

"The Act cuts out a lot of red tape by introducing a single performance-based regulation which replaced three existing regulations and simplifies what was previously fragmented, diverse and complicated requirements."

"We fully support the incorporation of the requirements of the National Standard for the Control of Major Hazard Facilities and the National Standard for the Storage and Handling of Workplace Dangerous Goods. This makes it possible for companies operating in a number of states to adopt the same safety approach across all of their operations, including Queensland."

"The new Act takes a performance-based approach that promotes an environment where individual companies can 'do it their way' - as long as they can prove they are doing it safely."

"The Act removes the shackles of prescriptive regulations, which can become irrelevant soon after their introduction because of new procedures and equipment. Regulations that have been made redundant by technological advances can actually hold industries back from improving production and reducing costs."

"Multi-skilled teams will set up to oversee the safe management of large-scale and high risk facilities referred to in the Act."