Tasmanian Business Reporter August 2017

4 Tasmanian Business Reporter - AUGUST 2017
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
www.tcci.com.au
Time Tamar River tide was turned
AS sure as the tide comes
in and out, the health and
amenity of Launceston’s
Tamar River estuary will
be subject of fierce public
debate.
Is enough being done?
Is the money pumped
into the river being spent
effectively?
The river and it’s associated
silt issue has been
the subject of pre-election
political pledges for
decades.
One of the problems
of managing a waterway
like the Tamar is that it
exists in various local
government areas. It also
has a variety of community
and quasi government
organisations with
an interest in managing a
part of the foreshore.
There is no high-level
planning, management
or oversight of the river.
It is hoped that the recently
announced Tamar
Estuary Management
Taskforce, which will be
chaired by Infrastructure
Tasmania chief executive
officer Alan Garcia, will
finally put structured reform
into place.
Mr Garcia will be
joined by representatives
from Launceston
City, Northern Midlands,
George Town, West Tamar
and Meander Valley
Michael
Bailey
TCCI Chief Executive
Councils as well as a
member from each of the
Launceston Flood Authority,
NRM North and
the Environment Protection
Authority.
TEMT has the charter
of developing the most
effective solution to the
problem of raw sewerage
flowing into the Tamar
during high rainfall
events as its first priority.
The taskforce’s recommendations
will become
part of the River Health
Action Plan, to finally
improve the estuary.
It all sounds very
promising. But history
suggests it won’t be easy.
At the moment we
have a very successful
raking program under
way. This program has
seen millions of tonnes
of silt removed from the
Tamar and North Esk
river intersection.
During winter, timed
to coincide with stronger
winter flows, a modified
scallop trawler agitates
the silt, using a rake,
washing it further downstream.
For the people of
Launceston this is a terrific
achievement as
this important tourism
precinct now looks and
works better.
But the silt does not
flow out of the river and
into Bass Strait. It is deposited
somewhere else
in the system.
Some living in Rosevears
and Legana are
already talking about the
volume of silt that they
believe is building up
in the Tamar in front of
their properties.
Anyone who regularly
travels the East Tamar
Highway will also note
the volume of silt building
up in the Tamar near
the Grammar rowing
sheds.
All we are doing is
moving the issue further
down the river for someone
else to worry about.
TEMT must now start
to manage the river in a
strategic way.
Winter flow down the South Esk to the Tamar River helps wash the silt problem downstream.
This is not a new idea.
In 2009 the Legislative
Council held a review
into the management of
the river. Spearheaded
by local members, Kerry
Finch (Rosevears), Ivan
Dean (Windermere) and
Don Wing (Launceston)
the Select Committee
undertook a review of
the existing management
system and looked at the
approach of other states
with similar waterway
issues.
In the Select Committee
review entitled, Management
of the Tamar
Estuary and Esk River, it
was noted that the “large
number of organisations
which had some role in
the management of the
Tamar” and the “fragmented
management
structure” of the river
were critical contributors
in the ongoing issues that
the Tamar faced.
The key recommendation
from the report
was the need to establish
a statutory authority to
manage the Tamar Estuary
and Esk Rivers.
This recommendation
followed the learnings
from other states including
how waterways are
managed in Southern
Queensland and Victoria.
The report pointed out
that “effective models in
other Australian States
can be used as a basis for
reforming management
structures”.
In these models of
waterway management
there is a consultative
approach to developing
strategy and a properly
funded regulatory and
enforcement structure.
I believe that it is time
to follow the recommendation
of this report. We
must have a holistic approach
to an ongoing issue
with a waterway that
is loved and enjoyed by
many.
It’s more imperative
than ever before. With
the university development,
plans for Northbank
and residential developments
on both sides
of our river all the way
to Low Head, we have to
become more strategic.
Safe design down to business owners
By CRAIG
HORTLE
THE safe design has
three areas in which duties
for workplace health
and safety may be applied.
Under the WHS Act
the PCBU (person conducting
the business or
undertaking) has to ensure
the safety of work-
ers and other persons.
1. If you are a business
that engages in the
design of structures that
could be used as a workplace
you are required to
ensure that the structure
is without risks to work
and safety.
The businesses that
may be included in this
type of work are:
• architects;
• building designers;
• landscape architect;
• engineering firms;
• building service design
engineers.
The designer needs to
apply this to residential
buildings when they may
become a worksite such
as during construction,
maintenances, and demolition.
2. A PCBU who commissions
construction
work has specific duties
Under workplace health and safety regulations business operators must
ensure the safety of workers and other persons.
that include:
• consulting with designer
to ensure risks
associated with the construction
phase are eliminated
or minimised; and
• provide information
to the designer with information
that the client
has to hazard and risks
where the construction is
to be carried out.
3. The principle contractor
is required to ensure
that construction
work is carried out in a
way that minimises the
risks and hazards associated
with the construction.
In the process of designing
structures it will
not always be possible
to clearly delineate who
has responsibility, and in
which circumstances, for
the elimination or minimisation
of hazards associated
with the structure.
The duties may be concurrent
and overlapping.
Section 16 of the WHS
states:
“Where more than one
person has a duty for the
same matter, each person
retains responsibility for
their duty and must discharge
it to the extent
to which the person has
the capacity to influence
or control the matter or
would have had that capacity
but for an agreement
or arrangement
claiming to limit or remove
that capacity.”
It is evident from this
information that all those
engaged in a project need
to ensure consultation
occurs between all parties
that have a duty under
the WHS Act.
Where duties may
be shared it needs to be
clearly defined who is
ensuring that the related
hazard and risks a either
eliminated or reduced to
and acceptable level.
For more information
contact Craig Hortle or
Janelle Whitehouse at
the TCCI on 1300 559
122 or safety@TCCI.
com.au