Fees for SAMFS Dangerous Goods Advice and Services

From the 1st of July 2022, all applications for advice, inspections and written advice to SAMFS/SACFS in regards to emergency plans and dangerous goods facilities will incur fees.

Fees will be charged at a minimum of 1 hour and then each subsequent hour or part thereof.

Note: The prescribed hourly fee is set out in the South Australian Government Gazette.

Please be advised that any plans submitted after 1 June 2022, will not be assessed until after 1 July 2022 and will incur a fee.

Please ensure your plans to the relevant agency (MFS/CFS) are complete, accurate, and meet the emergency plan requirements as outlined in the WHS Act/Regulations, the Safework Australia Emergency Plan factsheet and the MFS Guideline (under our further Information tab) before submission.

Prior to submitting, all plans must be internally reviewed to ensure that it meets all of the requirements and errors (including formatting, grammatical, and spelling) are resolved, as this will reduce both the time spent by reviewing officers and associated charge to your business with the review of your plan.

Please note: Fees will not be charged for the planning and conduct of joint exercises between the business and emergency service at Dangerous Goods and Major Hazard Facilities.

Lodge an Emergency Plan

If you have a site with a notifiable quantity of hazardous chemicals (notifiable quantity in relation to notifying SafeWork SA), then you are required to create an Emergency Plan and submit a copy, along with a Dangerous Goods Emergency Plan Submission form, to the South Australian Fire Services.

Please complete the Dangerous Goods Emergency Plan Submission form and attach associated forms in our online booking form.

Dangerous Goods Emergency Plan Submission

The MFS will acknowledge receipt of all emails within two working days. If you have not received an acknowledgement within this timeframe please phone the MFS Scientific Officer on (08) 8204 3600.

To view the Emergency Plan frequently asked questions, please view our Frequently Asked Questions page.

The information contained on this page applies specifically to the following types of sites:

Below is a brief overview of the legislation which relates specifically to Emergency Plans and information relating to emergency planning:

  • Regulation 43 of the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012
    Regulation 43 details the duty of a person conducting a business or undertaking at a workplace to prepare, maintain and implement an emergency plan.
  • Regulation 361 of the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012
    Sites with Manifest Quantities of Hazardous Chemicals as detailed in Schedule 11 of the WHS Reg. are subject to the provisions of Regulation 361 of Work Health and Safety Regulation 2012 (WHS Reg).
    Regulation 361 requires a specific emergency plan to be developed for hazardous chemicals which exceed the manifest quantities detailed in Schedule 11 of the WHS Reg.
    Regulation 361 requires a draft Emergency Plan to be submitted to the MFS and/or CFS. The site operator must take note of any written advice received from MFS and/or CFS regarding deficiencies or inclusions required in the final Emergency Plan.
  • Regulation 557 of the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 Major Hazard Facilities (MHFs) or provisionally registered MHFs that are registered with SafeWork SA are subject to the provisions of Regulation 557.
    Regulation 557 requires a draft Emergency Plan to be submitted to the MFS and/or CFS. The site operator must ensure that the emergency plan addresses any recommendation made by the emergency service organisations consulted. The operator must test the emergency plan in accordance with recommendations made by the emergency services organisations consulted.
    Regulation 557 requires the site operator to notify the emergency services consulted of the occurrence of an incident or event.

The above clauses require an Emergency Plan to be developed for the site. A draft Emergency Plan is required to be submitted to the MFS or the CFS.  The site operator must take note of any written advice received from the MFS and/or CFS regarding deficiencies or inclusions required in the final Emergency Plan.

For further comprehensive information on the requirements of the Work Health and Safety Regulations please visit SafeWork SA or the South Australian Legislation website.

The Work Health and Safety Regulations, requires employers, controllers of premises, occupiers of Dangerous Goods sites and operators of Major Hazard Facilities (MHFs) to carry out a thorough risk assessment to identify, eliminate or control hazards and risks at the site.

Clauses 361 and 557 have specific requirements in relation to Hazardous Chemicals (listed in Schedule 11 of the WHS Reg.) and materials used, stored or handled at MHFs (listed in Schedule 15 of the WHS Reg.).

The MFS and the SA Country Fire Service (CFS) recommend that a whole of site approach to the development of a comprehensive Emergency Plan is adopted. The Emergency Plan should be developed using the site risk assessment as a basis for determining what is required for inclusion in the plan.

Developing a holistic and comprehensive Emergency Plan should assist operators and license holders in meeting their compliance obligations under the above clauses.

An Emergency Plan is an informative document which familiarises facility occupants with the specific procedures to be implemented during an emergency. The Emergency Plan also outlines standard operational guidelines for use by facility emergency controllers and other personnel who may be required to fulfill a key functional role during the various stages of an emergency.

MFS and CFS recommend that staff are provided with regular training in implementing the procedures contained in the emergency plan. Local emergency services should also be invited to participate in emergency exercises.

An Emergency Plan will also contain critical information which can assist emergency services personnel formulate appropriate incident management strategies and tactics when attending an emergency involving your facility.

The Emergency Plan is a critical component in implementing appropriate emergency management strategies. It is important that the plan is logical, comprehensive and easy to read and use.

The development of an Emergency Plan will assist in ensuring that the effects of any incident are minimised. The consequences arising from an incident involving a facility’s hazards and risks must also be appropriately addressed by the plan.

The level of detail in an Emergency Plan will depend on the complexity of the activities at the workplace involved, and how much and what type of hazardous materials are stored or used at the site.

Typical emergencies can include:

  • Fire
  • Security, including armed intruder
  • Medical
  • Electrical/power outage
  • Mechanical or process failure
  • Natural events such as storms or flooding
  • Hazardous materials releases

The development of an Emergency Plan by persons not familiar with risk assessment, hazardous chemical hazards, associated consequences and emergency planning in general may result in the implementation of a deficient Emergency Plan. Unfortunately, shortcomings in Emergency Plans may not become apparent until an emergency incident occurs.

If you are unfamiliar with the process of assessing hazardous chemical dangers and risks, or not sure that you will be able to develop a comprehensive document, the MFS and CFS recommend that you engage the services of a qualified hazardous chemical consultant. They will be able to assist you in the development of a comprehensive and functional Emergency Plan.

The MFS and CFS cannot recommend a consultant. It is important to ensure that any consultant used understands your business and its requirements when writing an emergency plan that is appropriate for your workplace.

While the MFS and CFS websites contains a guideline and other information to assist you in developing an Emergency Plan, it is stressed that the obligation for the identification of hazards and the development of a comprehensive Emergency Plan is the responsibility of the site operator.

To assist operators and license holders in developing a comprehensive emergency plan, the MFS and CFS have also developed a general emergency plan guideline: MFS Emergency Planning Guidelines 001 Emergency Plans at Facilities Having Notifiable Quantities of Hazardous Chemicals and Major Hazard Facilities.

This document is also available on the CFS website. MFS and CFS recommend that the policy is referred to when developing your sites Emergency Plan.

Emergency Service Information Package (ESIP)

The ESIP is a separate document that has information that is relevant to first arrival crews to help commence initial combat operations. The ESIP must have all pages laminated so it is durable in a harsh environment and it must be located with your emergency plan, accessible to emergency services 24/7.

It must include: