Australian National Tunnelling Code of Practice announced amidst concern

20 March 2012


The Australasian Tunnelling Society (ATS) has criticised areas of the proposed National Tunnelling Code of Practice.

At a workshop in Brisbane this month that presented a new Queensland Code of Practice induction, it was announced that a harmonisation programme will see the changes adopted in other states. An ATS spokesman said, “In the opinion of the ATS, there are a number of inclusions in the revised code which are potentially onerous and/or ambiguous. “ATS intends to prepare a coordinated response on behalf of its members to the respective safety authorities in the other states. In the near future ATS will be seeking further input and involvement from our members on this issue.” The spokesman added that the clause on mandatory escape routes on page 24 of the full document was an area of concern to the organisation. The full document can be viewed here: http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/resources/pdfs/tunnelling-cop-2007-2010.pdf A list of changes can be viewed here: http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/resources/pdfs/tunnelling-cop-errata.pdf