3 Definitions
In this Schedule, unless the contrary intention appears:
accident includes the contraction of a disease.
associated offshore place, in relation to a facility, means any
offshore place near the facility where activities (including diving
activities) relating to the construction, installation, operation,
maintenance or decommissioning of the facility take place, but does
not include:
(a) another facility;
(b) a supply vessel, offtake tanker, anchor handler or tugboat; or
(c) a vessel, or structure, that is declared by the regulations not to
be an associated offshore place.
contract includes an arrangement or understanding.
contractor has the meaning in clause 7.
Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981 162
dangerous occurrence means an occurrence declared by the
regulations to be a dangerous occurrence.
designated work group means:
(a) a group of members of the workforce at a facility that is
established as a designated work group under clause 18
or 19; or
(b) that group as varied in accordance with clause 20 or 21.
employee, in relation to an employer, means an employee of the
employer.
employer means an employer who carries on an activity at a
facility means a facility within the meaning of clause 4, and:
(a) includes a facility that is being constructed or installed; and
(b) except in the definition of associated offshore place,
includes an associated offshore place in relation to a facility
(as defined by clause 4).
group member, in relation to a designated work group at a facility,
means a person who is:
(a) a member of the workforce at that facility; and
(b) included in that designated work group.
improvement notice means an improvement notice issued under
clause 61(1).
inspection means an inspection conducted under Part 4 of this
Schedule, and includes an investigation or inquiry.
master, in relation to a vessel, means the person having command
or charge of the vessel.
member of the workforce, in relation to a facility, means a natural
person who does work at the facility, whether as:
(a) an employee of the operator of the facility or another person;
or
(b) a contractor of the operator or another person.
offshore petroleum operations has the meaning in Part III.
Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981 163
operator, in relation to a facility or proposed facility, means the
person who, under the regulations, is taken to be the operator of
the facility or proposed facility.
operator's representative at a facility means a person present at
the facility in compliance with the obligations imposed on the
operator by clause 5.
own includes own jointly and own in part.
plant includes any machinery, equipment and tool and any
component of those things.
premises includes the following:
(a) a structure or building;
(b) a place (whether or not enclosed or built on);
(c) a part of a thing mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b).
prohibition notice means a prohibition notice issued under
clause 59(1).
proposed facility means a facility proposed to be constructed,
installed or operated.
recovery, in relation to petroleum, includes all processes directly or
indirectly associated with its recovery.
registered organisation means an organisation within the
meaning of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 of the
Commonwealth.
regulated business premises means:
(a) a facility; or
(b) premises that are:
(i) occupied by a person who is the operator of a facility;
and
(ii) used, or proposed to be used, wholly or principally in
connection with offshore petroleum operations.
regulations means:
(a) regulations made for this Schedule; or
Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981 164
(b) regulations of the Commonwealth relating to occupational
health and safety matters as applied for this Schedule.
reviewing authority means the Australian Industrial Relations
Commission.
work means work offshore that is directly or indirectly related to the
construction, installation, operation, maintenance or
decommissioning of a facility.
workforce representative means:
(a) in relation to a person who is a member of the workforce at a
facility – a registered organisation of which the person is a
member if the person is qualified to be a member of the
organisation because of the work the person performs at the
facility; or
(b) in relation to a designated work group or a proposed
designated work group – a registered organisation of which a
person who is, or who is likely to be, in the work group is a
member if the person is qualified to be a member of the
organisation because of the work the person performs, or will
perform, at a facility as a member of the group.
work group employer, in relation to a designated work group at a
facility, means an employer of one or more group members, but
does not include the operator of the facility.
workplace, in relation to a facility, means the whole facility or any
part of the facility.
4 Facilities
(1) A vessel or structure is taken to be a facility for this Schedule while
the vessel or structure:
(a) is located at a site in the adjacent area; and
(b) is being used, or prepared for use, at the site:
(i) for the recovery of petroleum, for the processing of
petroleum, or for the storage and offloading of
petroleum, or for any combination of those activities;
(ii) for the provision of accommodation for persons working
on another facility (whether or not connected by a
walkway to that other facility);
Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981 165
(iii) for drilling or servicing a well for petroleum or doing work
associated with the drilling or servicing process;
(iv) for laying pipes for petroleum, including any
manufacturing of such pipes and for doing work on an
existing pipe;
(v) for the erection, dismantling or decommissioning of a
vessel or structure mentioned in a previous
subparagraph; or
(vi) for another purpose related to offshore petroleum
operations prescribed by the regulations.
(2) Subclause (1) applies to a vessel or structure:
(a) whether it is floating or fixed; and
(b) whether or not it is capable of independent navigation.
(3) Subclause (1) has effect subject to subclauses (6)and (7).
(4) A vessel or structure used for a purpose mentioned in
subclause (1)(b)(i) includes:
(a) any wells and associated plant and equipment by means of
which petroleum processed or stored at the vessel or structure
is recovered;
(b) any pipe or system of pipes through which petroleum is
conveyed from a well to the vessel or structure; and
(c) any secondary line associated with the vessel or structure.
(5) For subclause (1), a vessel or structure that is located offshore for
laying pipes as described in subclause (1)(b)(iv) is taken to be
located at a site despite the fact the vessel or structure moves as
the pipe laying process proceeds.
(6) Despite subclause (1), a vessel or structure is taken not to be a
facility for this Schedule if the vessel or structure is:
(a) an offtake tanker;
(b) a tug or anchor handler;
(c) a vessel or structure used for supplying a facility or otherwise
travelling between a facility and the shore; or
(d) a vessel or structure used for any purpose declared by the
regulations not to be a facility.
Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981 166
(7) In determining when a vessel or structure that has the potential to
be used for one or more of the purposes mentioned in
subclause (1)(b) is in fact being so used, the vessel or structure is
taken:
(a) to commence to be so used only at the time when it arrives at
the site where it is to be so used and any activities necessary
to make it operational at that site are started; and
(b) to cease to be so used when operations cease and the vessel
or structure has been returned either to a navigable form or to
a form in which it can be towed to another place.
(8) Each of the following is taken to be a facility for this Schedule:
(a) a pipeline subject to a pipeline licence;
(b) if a pipeline subject to a pipeline licence conveys petroleum
recovered from a well without the petroleum having passed
through another facility, the pipeline together with:
(i) the well and associated plant and equipment; and
(ii) any pipe or system of pipes through which petroleum is
conveyed from the well to the pipeline.
(9) In subclause (8)(b):
facility does not include a pipeline.
5 Operator must ensure presence of operator's representative
(1) The operator of a facility must ensure, at all times when one or
more natural persons are present at the facility, there is also
present a natural person (the operator's representative at the
facility) who has day-to-day management and control of operations
at the facility.
Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981 167
(2) The operator of a facility must ensure the name of the operator's
representative at the facility is displayed in a prominent place at the
(3) Subclause (1) does not imply that, if the operator is a natural
person, the operator's representative at the facility may not be, from
time to time, the operator.
6 Health and safety of persons using accommodation facility
To remove doubt, a reference in this Schedule to the occupational
health and safety of a person includes a reference to the health and
safety of a person using an accommodation facility provided for the
accommodation of persons working on another facility.
7 Contractor
For this Schedule, a natural person is taken to be a contractor of
another person if the natural person does work at a facility under a
contract for services between:
(a) the other person; and
(b) either:
(i) the natural person; or
(ii) the natural person's employer.
Part 2 Occupational health and safety
Division 1 Duties relating to occupational health and safety
8 Duties of operator
(1) The operator of a facility must take all reasonably practicable steps
to ensure:
(a) the facility is safe and without risk to the health of any person
at or near the facility; and
Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981 168
(b) all work and other activities carried out on the facility are
carried out in a manner that is safe and without risk to the
health of any person at or near the facility.
(2) Without limiting subclause (1), the operator of a facility must:
(a) provide and maintain a physical environment at the facility that
is safe and without risk to health;
(b) provide and maintain adequate facilities for the welfare of all
members of the workforce at the facility;
(c) ensure any plant, equipment, materials and substances at the
facility are safe and without risk to health;
(d) implement and maintain systems of work at the facility that are
safe and without risk to health;
(e) implement and maintain appropriate procedures and
equipment for the control of, and response to, emergencies at
the facility;
(f) provide all members of the workforce, in appropriate
languages, with the information, instruction, training and
supervision necessary for them to carry out their activities in a
manner that does not adversely affect the occupational health
and safety of persons at the facility;
(g) monitor the occupational health and safety of all members of
the workforce and keep records of that monitoring;
(h) provide appropriate medical and first aid services at the
facility; and
(i) develop, in consultation with members of the workforce and
workforce representatives, a policy relating to occupational
health and safety that:
(i) will enable the operator and the members to cooperate
effectively in promoting and developing measures to
ensure the occupational health and safety of persons at
the facility;
Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981 169
(ii) will provide adequate mechanisms for reviewing the
effectiveness of the measures; and
(iii) provides for the making of an agreement that complies
with subclauses (4) and (5).
(3) Subclause (2)(i) does not require the operator of a facility to engage
in consultations with a workforce representative unless a member
of the workforce at the facility has requested the workforce
representative to be involved in those consultations.
(4) The agreement mentioned in subclause (2)(i)(iii) must be between:
(a) on the one hand – the operator; and
(b) on the other hand:
(i) the members of the workforce; and
(ii) if a member of the workforce at the facility has requested
a workforce representative in relation to the member to
be a party to that agreement – the workforce
representative.
(5) The agreement mentioned in subclause (2)(i)(iii) must provide
appropriate mechanisms for continuing consultation between:
(a) on the one hand – the operator; and
(b) on the other hand:
(i) the members of the workforce; and
(ii) if a member of the workforce at the facility has requested
a workforce representative in relation to the member to
be involved in consultations on a particular occasion –
the workforce representative.
(6) The agreement may provide for any other matters agreed between
the parties to it.