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Coal board medicals: what labour hire firms need to track
A coal board medical is the old name for the health assessment under Queensland's Coal Mine Workers' Health Scheme. As at September 2026, the employer must make sure one is done before a person starts as a coal mine worker, again when they change employers, and then at an interval set by the employer's appointed medical adviser that can't be more than five years. The employer arranges it and pays for it, so for a labour hire firm the first job is working out who the employer is.
Search for it and you mostly get clinics selling appointments. This guide covers the other half: what the rules say, what your office actually receives, and how to keep crews from turning up at a Bowen Basin gate with an assessment that has run out.
What is a coal board medical?
Business Queensland describes the Coal Mine Workers' Health Scheme as "formerly the Coal Board Medical". It is a compulsory health assessment for Queensland coal mine workers, overseen by Resources Safety and Health Queensland (RSHQ). The scheme's purpose page says it is used to decide fitness for work and to catch respiratory diseases such as coal mine workers' pneumoconiosis and silicosis early, by screening workers, referring them for follow-up and collecting data that feeds reviews of dust exposure limits.
It applies to workers employed in high-risk tasks in Queensland coal mines, including on coal exploration permits, mineral development licences and mining leases. Workers in low-risk tasks, with office work given as the example, are not covered. The Coal Mining Safety and Health Regulation 2017 defines a low risk task as one a risk assessment shows creates a risk so minimal it can be managed without the worker having a health assessment.
What is included in a coal board medical?
Section 46A of the regulation says the approved form must provide for a chest examination, spirometry and a chest X-ray examination. For someone not yet employed as a coal mine worker all three are done. For existing workers, spirometry and the chest X-ray must happen at least once every five years. The X-ray gets a further reading, and where earlier spirometry results are held, a comparative assessment looks for trends. Section 46B lets the appointed medical adviser add matters that aren't on the form when a risk assessment of the worker's task calls for it.
Business Queensland's page on how the health assessment works says the form, completed on RSHQ's ResHealth system, has four parts. The employer completes its section, including the worker's position. The worker fills in personal details and work and medical history, and must bring photo ID. An examining medical officer records the clinical findings. The appointed medical adviser completes the assessment section and signs the health assessment report, which covers fitness for duty, work restrictions and follow-up requirements. Only that report goes to the employer, and it's the "section 4" people search for.
How long are coal board medicals valid for?
Up to five years, but not automatically five. Section 46 says a periodic assessment must be carried out within a period of no more than five years after the last one, decided by the employer's appointed medical adviser. The adviser must have regard to any notice that a worker's risk from a hazard at the mine has increased appreciably. The date that matters is the one the adviser sets, not the anniversary you get by adding five years to the last appointment.
Two situations bring the next assessment forward. A person changing employers needs a new health assessment, although Business Queensland says an in-date examination such as a chest X-ray can be relied on if the new adviser considers it appropriate. A worker with more than one employer needs one assessment per employer, each valid while in date.
For labour hire, the most useful line on that page is this one: a worker doesn't need a separate health assessment for every mine site they work at for the same employer, or when their employer sub-contracts them to another business. The page adds that the employer and its adviser should still consider whether a new location or role changes the risk enough to need a new assessment.
| Situation | What Business Queensland says |
|---|---|
| Starting as a coal mine worker | Assessment before starting |
| Periodic, same employer | Interval set by the AMA, at least every 5 years |
| Changing employers | New assessment, in-date results may be reused |
| Two employers at once | One assessment per employer |
| Several sites, same employer | No extra assessment required |
| Employer sub-contracts the worker to another entity | No extra assessment required |
How do you book a coal board medical, and who pays?
The employer does both. Section 47 of the regulation says the employer must pay for the health assessment, any subsequent assessment, and the copies and explanations of the report. The fees page says this includes referrals, tests and reasonable travel expenses for further investigations such as CT scans or respiratory physician assessments, and that employers pay Lungscreen and other Australian B-readers to read the X-ray. The employer is not responsible for treatment that follows.
The employer also appoints the doctor. Under section 45, every employer of coal mine workers must appoint an approved supervising doctor in writing as its appointed medical adviser (AMA) and notify RSHQ. Business Queensland's page on AMAs says an AMA appointed by one employer has no AMA status for other employers, the contract must include commercial details such as a schedule of fees, and since 1 March 2019 employers must appoint AMAs from RSHQ's register of doctors and medical providers. An approved examining doctor can do the examination under the AMA's supervision, but only the AMA signs the report.
So booking runs through the employer's AMA, not whichever clinic has a free slot. The regulation puts the duty on the employer, which is why a labour hire firm that employs its crew and supplies them to a mine needs to be clear, contract by contract, whose AMA does the assessment and whether the cost is recharged to the host. Settle that in the supply agreement before the first crew mobilises. If the legal position for your arrangement isn't clear, RSHQ's Health Surveillance Unit or your adviser is the place to ask.
Can you fail a coal board medical?
The rules don't use a pass mark. The report states fitness for duty and any restrictions. Business Queensland's page for workers with health issues says restrictions don't necessarily stop someone working if they can still do the job safely, but it is up to employers to decide whether the restrictions can be accommodated.
Where a report shows a worker can't carry out their tasks at the mine without creating an unacceptable level of risk, section 48 says the employer must give them a reasonable opportunity to have a further health assessment, supervised by an approved supervising doctor or relevant specialist the worker chooses, before terminating or demoting them. The worker pays for that one. If the reports conflict, either side can give the documents to RSHQ's chief executive within 28 days of the review report. Under section 48A a separate specialist then prepares a final report, paid for by RSHQ. Business Queensland notes the option of a second assessment doesn't apply to job seekers who haven't yet been employed.
What the employer sees, and what stays out of the roster
The confidentiality page says only section 4 of the health assessment report may be disclosed to the employer, with records protected by privacy provisions and section 52 of the regulation. Section 47 adds that if the employer asks the AMA to explain the report, the worker must agree and be present. Completed forms are RSHQ's property. Workers can get copies from their AMA, who may charge, or free from RSHQ with a written request, as the page on obtaining copies of medicals explains.
A labour hire office rarely needs everything the rules let it see. The OAIC describes health information as including specialist reports and test results, and a restriction written into a shift note travels a long way. Habits that help:
- Record the assessment date, the next due date and whether the worker is fit for the role where you track certificates.
- Keep the report itself in a restricted record, not attached to a shift or pasted into a roster note that client users and other crew might read.
- Write "restriction applies, see compliance" in operational notes, not the medical reason.
- Give a host only what it needs to put the worker on site.
RSHQ's 2026 quality review of health assessments
RSHQ says that from July 2026 it is running a clinical quality review of health assessment practices by approved doctors under the scheme, supported by a specialist clinical team that includes academics from the Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health. The review has four focus areas: whether doctors' decisions align with the Mine Dust Lung Disease Clinical Pathways Guideline, whether applied restrictions are clinically appropriate and consistent with the guidelines for returning workers with mine dust lung diseases, an RSHQ position on telehealth, new technologies and clinical support staff, and the clinical basis doctors use when deciding the cause of a COPD diagnosis. Findings will be shared progressively and a final report published.
As at September 2026, nothing on that page changes what employers must do. What the findings may affect is how restrictions are applied, and restrictions are the part that lands on a roster. Separately, Business Queensland's standards page says that from 1 October 2026 all spirometry for Queensland mine and quarry workers must follow the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand's 2026 standards. If you have a batch of assessments booked around that date, ask your AMA whether anything changes for them.
Keeping due dates ahead of the swing
The usual failure isn't a worker refusing a medical. It's a due date nobody looked at until the flights were booked. Track the next assessment date the AMA sets, not a five-year guess. Start chasing early enough to allow for the X-ray read and any follow-up, because Business Queensland says the AMA only completes the assessment once all examinations and follow-up investigations, including the chest X-ray, are finished. Treat anyone moving onto your books from another employer as needing a new assessment until your AMA says an earlier result can be reused. And attach the requirement to the site, so it applies to whoever is rostered there instead of relying on someone remembering.
That last habit is where software helps. In Mustr, a coal medical can be held as a renewing certificate with an expiry date and a verified, pending or expired state. Certificates expiring soon show on the dashboard up to 60 days out with one-click reminder emails, and admins set how many days before expiry chasing starts. Requirements can be set per client site, role or shift, and when a worker is assigned the server checks their required competencies are current and verified, so an expired medical blocks the booking with the reason shown. Mustr doesn't book medicals or deal with the AMA. It keeps the date and status in front of the office. There's more on timing in the 60-day expiry window.
Questions people ask
How long are coal board medicals valid for?
In Queensland, a periodic health assessment must be done within a period set by the employer's appointed medical adviser, and that period can't be more than five years after the last assessment. The adviser can set a shorter interval. Changing employers also triggers a new assessment.
How much is a coal board medical in Queensland?
Business Queensland and RSHQ don't publish a price. Fees are a commercial term in the contract between the employer and its appointed medical adviser, so costs vary and are set by providers. The employer pays for the assessment, while a worker who seeks a further assessment after an unfavourable report pays for that one.
Who pays for a coal board medical?
The employer must pay for the health assessment, including referrals, tests and reasonable travel expenses for further investigations needed to complete it. The employer isn't responsible for any treatment that follows. RSHQ pays for a former worker assessment.
What is a section 4 coal board medical?
Section 4 is the health assessment report, the part of the approved form completed and signed by the appointed medical adviser. It covers fitness for duty, work restrictions and follow-up requirements. It is the only part of the form the employer receives.
How do I get a copy of my coal board medical?
Workers can ask the appointed medical adviser who supervised the assessment, who may charge for copies. RSHQ also supplies copies free of charge on a written request using its medical record release form. The request needs the worker's full name, date of birth, where to send the records, and the worker's signature and date.
See how Mustr tracks renewing tickets across mine sites on the mining rostering page, or try it with sample data.