Programmable Electronic Systems - Demystifying the Jargon

The last ten years or so have seen considerable growth in the use of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) in safety-critical applications. This was expected, because PLCs had been successfully used much earlier as logic solvers for normal control operations, and they were found to offer much more flexibility than older systems. But do you understand the jargon?... Download PDF

Practical Risk-Based Assessment: Safety Integrity Levels for Mining Systems

The coal mining industry is actively embracing concepts of Safety Integrity Level (SIL) in all aspects of control and safety shutdown systems. Safety Integrity Level is an internationally adopted concept for describing and managing risk reduction, aimed at improving standards for safety... Download PDF

Emergency Plan Requirements - What You Need to Know...

The recently introduced OH&S Amendment (Dangerous Goods) Regulation 2005 and the Explosive Regulation 2005 brought a host of changes and new requirements for dealing with dangerous goods and explosives. One of the more subtle changes related to the preparation of emergency plans... Download PDF

New Dangerous Goods regulation now in force - What you need to know

What has changed? The regulation of the storage and handling of dangerous goods (apart from explosives) now comes within the OH&S Regulation 20011. A new Chapter 6A deals with the management of dangerous goods, using a similar approach to that of Chapter 6 which deals with hazardous substances...

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Fraud and corruption controls - will they work when called upon?

Risk management is a central part of good corporate governance. This is reflected in recent Australian standards, for example AS 8001 Fraud and Corruption Control 1, where many different examples of fraud type are listed. The standard also refers to principles of risk management that should be considered and applied where possible. It is fine to have controls in place - but will they work when called upon? Judging from recent cases, we should be asking this question of ourselves...

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