It comes after the controversial submission by the Queensland Resources Council to the government that reform is needed to bring the state’s safety regulations in line with that of New South Wales and a proposed national framework for occupational health and safety.
While the Pike report recommends that New Zealand follow the Queensland model, it also addresses the power of worker and union safety and health representatives to stop operations, recommending they have equal power to close an operation when there is “immediate danger to workers”
When a union representative is concerned in cases other than immediate danger, the report suggests it be reported to a mines inspector, which is what the QRC claims it wants for Queensland.
“The report specifically discusses the current power of industry safety and health representatives [from unions] to suspend operations when there is 'an unacceptable level of risk' and rejects this, recommending instead that they have the same power of site safety health representatives [representing workers],” according to the QRC.
“This view reflects QRC submissions that ask that ISHRs not have the power to issue directives to suspend operations when there is ‘an unacceptable level of risk’.”
The QRC denied it was seeking to abolish ISHRs in the Queensland coal industry.
Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union district president Stephen Smyth told ILN it was resisting changes to the role of ISHRs in Queensland and rejected the QRC response to the Pike River report.
“This statement shows the QRC just being facetious – they might not be calling for the abolition of these inspectors' roles but they are calling for them to be toothless tigers,” he said.
"Make no mistake, the QRC might advocate for these positions to exist but if you remove the ability of inspectors to halt production at an unsafe mine, you may as well replace them with scarecrows.
"Let's be clear, the QRC wants ISHRs – or what the union calls district check inspectors – to have to jump through a level of bureaucracy to close mines that are posing immediate danger to workers at the coalface.”
Smyth said when working in a hazardous environment, such as an underground coal mine, extra bureaucracy was unacceptable and what the Pike River Royal Commission warned against.
"The QRC can play around with semantics all day but Queensland's mine safety standards have been written in the blood of miners, they are world's best practice and there is no sound reason they should be changed to appease mining companies feeling the pinch of slightly lower coal prices," he said.
