Queensland’s risk-based petroleum and gas regulator
William Date A * and Mark Stone AA Resources Safety & Health Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.
The APPEA Journal 62 S238-S242 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21084
Accepted: 24 February 2022 Published: 13 May 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
Resources Safety & Health Queensland (RSHQ) is the new independent regulator for occupational safety and health in Queensland’s petroleum and gas, mining, quarrying and explosives sector. RSHQ was created by the Queensland Government on 1 July 2020 as a singular focussed statutory body. It is a stand-alone organisation quite separate from its former portfolio Department – the Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy. RSHQ’s vision is ‘zero serious harm’. In pursuit of this lofty vision – which is defined as operations and activities free from fatality, hospitalisation and confirmed cases of disease – RSHQ applies its regulatory approach which is risk-based and data-driven. This paper outlines the regulator’s approach, values and principles to supporting the upstream petroleum sector in Queensland in order to protect its workers and meet its obligations under law. Importantly, RSHQ compliance principles and practice should be understood by operators, contractors, workers and other key stakeholders in the petroleum sector. Case studies demonstrate the efficacy of this approach as it applies to the construction, operation and decommissioning of wells, gathering systems and plant. Operators, contractors and service companies will significantly benefit from reading and hearing more from the regulator at the APPEA Conference in Brisbane in 2022.
Keywords: data‐driven, petroleum and gas, regulator, risk based, RSHQ, zero serious harm.
William (Bill) Date an Australian Army officer for 38 years, Brigadier Date is no stranger to taking on challenges and providing leadership. He served in the Army Combat Engineers for 20+ years, in the later part of his career as a Senior Officer (regular and reserve), reaching Commander 11th Brigade in 2015–2016 (Army Reserve formation in Queensland). He served on three operational deployments to Bougainville, Iraq and Afghanistan as Senior Military Advisor; and Chief of UN Military Advisory Unit. In his first role in the petroleum and gas industry, as Director of the Coal Seam Gas (CSG) Engagement Unit (2009), Bill led his team through many challenging situations between concerned communities, activists and the CSG industry. He has been the Executive Director CSG Compliance Unit (2012–2016) and since July 2016, the Chief Inspector Petroleum and Gas. |
Mark Stone believes in the right of every worker to a safe and healthy workplace. He is committed to improving outcomes in the resources sector by building RSHQ’s capability as an effective, risk-based regulator, and helping industry meet its obligations to protect workers and affected communities. Mark joined the former Resources Safety and Health in 2016, having spent the preceding two decades in the global oil and gas industry in technical and leadership roles. He holds degrees in minerals engineering and petroleum engineering and is a Fellow of Engineers Australia. |
References
Brady S (2019) Review of all Fatal Accidents in Queensland Mines and Quarries from 2000 to 2019. (Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy)Resources Safety & Health Queensland (2021a) Strategic Plan 2021–2025. Available at https://www.rshq.qld.gov.au/resources/documents/corporate/strategic-plan.pdf
Resources Safety & Health Queensland (2021b) Compliance and Enforcement Policy. Available at https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/compliance-and-enforcement-policy/resource/1c401021-3f6c-4adb-a1d4-ef3e64727442
Sparrow M (2008) The Characters of Harms. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge)
Sparrow M (2020) Fundamental of Regulatory Design. Independently Published. 30 July 2020. Available at https://scholar.harvard.edu/msparrow/fundamentals-of-regulatory-design
