20   Duty of operator to prepare health and safety management system

(1)  The operator of a coal operation at which mining is carried out must prepare a statement in accordance with this Act and the regulations, stating how the health and safety of the people who work at the coal operation, or who are directly affected by the coal operation, will be protected. This is a health and safety management system.

(2)  For the purposes of this section, a person may be directly affected by a coal operation even if the person is not inside the coal operation.

(3)  The regulations may specify which people are directly affected by a coal operation for the purposes of this Subdivision.

(4)  This section does not require an operator to prepare a health and safety management system for a coal operation if a previous operator of the coal operation prepared a system that complies with this Act and the regulations.