Published in June 2008 Australian Longwall Magazine

 

Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of the Digging Deeper Report and the resulting Digging Deeper Action Plan – released earlier this year – is the intense consultation of contractors in the process of putting the plan together.

 

Australian Longwall spoke with some of the coal industry’s major contractors to get their view on MSAC’s recommendations and the path it took to reach them.

 

Paul Hartcher, managing director of specialist coal contractor UGM Engineers, was a part of the Digging Deeper Report from the start, and also attended the 2005 Wran Mine Safety Review that Digging Deeper was based on.

 

He told his main motivation in attending the Wran Mine Safety Review was to see whether the Review was something he could realistically and usefully contribute to.

 

“There is always a danger that such exercises are politically motivated with outcomes somewhat pre-ordained and I guess I wanted to see if that was the case,” he said.

 

“If it was, I could walk away, but if it wasn’t then it was an opportunity to participate in a forum representative of a broad spectrum of industry contributors and fly the flag for those contracting companies who are making considerable effort to set the standards.

 

“Certainly, the work undertaken prior to the meeting was extensive and comprehensive, but it came down to interpretation and the amount of time available to actually discuss and debate each point.

 

“I’m sure the eventual outcomes won’t be accepted by everybody as perfect or effectual but every step made in processes such as these is a step forward so we must be better off for the effort.”

 

Hartcher attended sessions held in Penrith, where there was an attempt to break the group into the representative industry sectors including regulators, unions, management and contractors.

 

He said that while the contractors were probably the most under-represented group, at times they were the certainly the prime focus of attention.

 

“Simplistic and political comment was made, at times focusing upon the ambitions or aims of the specific groups who were in attendance regarding the use of contractors,” Hartcher told .

 

“However there appeared to be agreement that whilst there are plenty of contractors, the actual choice for professional and compliant organisations was limited,” he said.

 

“There appeared to be a view that some mining companies still continued to give credence and support to contractors who couldn’t realistically comply with the requirements of the present legislation and community expectations, and at times the choice was ultimately made based upon price rather than performance and support.

 

“This commercial reality makes it hard for a contracting company that has evolved out of the industry and is fully aware of, and has experienced, the risks associated with the working environment; attempts to be current with community expectations regarding employment conditions; understands and commits to the regulatory envelope in which we are expected to operate within; and operates within the national context of corporate governance principles.”

 

From the several contractors spoke with on the issue of fatigue, the overarching consensus was that regardless of which policies are in place, ultimate onsite safety comes down to the workers themselves and the people managing them directly.

 

Peter Allonby, general manager, technical effectiveness at Walter Mining, told that safety issues such as fatigue needed to be managed holistically, rather than focusing on components of the issue such as shift lengths.

 

He said fatigue needed to be considered in totality and that people’s behaviours while rostered off – as well as their travelling arrangements at the start and end of a roster –affect their wellbeing.

 

“Regardless of whether you are a contractor or an owner/operator, it is our behaviours as leaders that influence the safety behaviours of our people,” Allonby told .

 

He said there should be no difference in the ways contractors and owner/operators manage their operational staff, and that if working relationships are strained and people are regarded differently, the ability for leadership to be effective is compromised.

 

Hartcher said any proactive measure is helpful but companies should not step away from an individual employee’s responsibility and alignment with general community standards.

 

“How can the employer manage the period of time the employee is away from work, and if the employer attempts to do so there are claims against privacy,” he said.

 

“From a contracting perspective a sensible focus on rosters, accommodation obligations on the part of the employer, and transport, are key issues,” he said. “Often the difference between winning or losing a contract is because of the costs you have allowed for to address this issue.”

 

But Alex Floyd, workplace health and safety officer with Valley Longwall, told the Digging Deeper Action Plan was still a useful contribution to mine safety for contractors, particularly because the report has taken into account the safety infrastructure that is already in the mines.

 

“One of their suggestions was to track hours worked onsite, and the infrastructure for that is already in place in the majority of sites in the form of stats cards and Onsite Track Easy cards,” Floyd said.

 

“But like any system, I don’t think we can ever be 100 percent safe. In general, I think fatigue is a large factor in a reasonable number of incidents in the coal mining industry, and I know it’s something that we as a company are working to cut down upon.”

 

He said Valley Longwall had recently implemented a fatigue management policy.

 

“The policy limits hours worked onsite and we have to conform to contract principles before we commence work,” Floyd said.

 

“We limit travel time for getting to sites, and we provide reasonable measures where necessary to ensure that none of our employees are significantly fatigued either before or after they complete their shifts.

 

“I think our own policies will be more than sufficient for what the Digging Deeper Plan seems to be outlining,” Floyd said.

 

“I don’t foresee any significant change [as a result of the Digging Deeper recommendations] in the way we do business, nor the manner in which we transport our employees, nor the hours they work.

 

“I do agree with the 10 Platinum Rules (see sidebar), but I think they are also quite general applications,” he said.

 

Floyd said the Coal Mines Health and Safety Act and the Coal Mines Health and Safety Regulations put an onus on the mine to ensure contractors are trained no less advantageously than they would train their own employees.

 

“I think that as a result of that, the level of danger specifically through training is the same for both employees of the mine and contractors working onsite,” he said.

 

He said arrangements in the past that placed production levels and time pressures on contractors, and potentially compromised safety through fatigue and other factors, are becoming less frequent.

 

“I wouldn’t say it’s been removed from the industry,” he said. “Environments like that differ from site to site, but it’s a decreasing trend.

 

“I know that all of the sites we work at are quite willing to come into line if we have any kind of production difficulty. They’re normally quite understanding of any of those circumstances.”

 

Hartcher said that creditable companies put a big effort into training, hazard awareness, incident management and workplace audits. While this is no guarantee in itself, he said, it is certainly a mitigating action.

 

“I have no access to figures but not all contractors are the same and there is no method of real assessment or comparison between what is really on offer other than check lists and a misguided focus on statistics.

 

“Having said that, I have never met any [company] who would willingly or intentionally hurt anyone, but despite anybody’s best efforts it can still be impossible to prevent an employee sticking their finger in a light socket.”

 

“I need to state that these opinions are my own and made in the spirit of the two days I attended [the Wran Mine Safety Review]. My focus is on contractors and whilst I found some views to be founded on the specific interests of the parties who expressed them, I recognised that I was as guilty of this as anyone and really, that was the purpose of the sessions.

 

“So in that sense, I believe the process was a success, the hard part is to assess the information and disseminate it out to an industry that is all too ready to dismiss such efforts. I hope it achieves every stated objective, especially those relating to the engagement of reputable contracting firms.”