Bloomfield told delegates at the Longwall 2006 conference in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley that the NSW OH&S laws were “morally wrong”

“A law where you are presumed guilty and where you have to prove your innocence is a sad case,” he said.

“This issue has the potential to result in a lot of us having criminal offences against us.”

Bloomfield said he called on the State Government to change the laws so people charged under the act had “access to trial by jury”. He added he would like to see “proper rules” for court proceedings, elimination of double jeopardy, and the right to appeal.

“All these things are very basic rights that we don’t have,” he said.

Bloomfield said that the current legislative landscape was a result of the catastrophic events of the last decade, including the tragedies at Moura and Gretley. He said much of the controlled safety environment the industry experienced today was a result of these two events.

Bloomfield said he and other BHP Illawarra Coal management spent three days a year in formal auditing of catastrophic hazard management plans to underscore the importance of the planning, to be vigilant about change and to gain third party input to ensure robust procedures.

BHP Illawarra Coal has also developed its own Fatal Risk Control Protocols, of which Bloomfield said their “strength lies in their execution not in the words on the paper”.

He said isolation, hydraulic safety and equipment size were the key safety concerns for the longwall industry.

He also highlighted ergonomics as a key safety factor – with 68% of injuries in the Australian longwall sector a result of sprains and strains – a worse injury rate than other countries including the US and South Africa.

Bloomfield then moved on to the public perception in Australia of the coal industry. “The reputation of our industry is under siege,” he said.

He said the industry in New South Wales was facing a very strong Greens campaign and listed Centennial Coal’s Anvil Hill development as one example. He said BHP’s Caroona prospect in NSW’s Gunnedah Basin was also facing “unprecedented opposition and that’s before we have even drilled a hole”

He said there would be large ramifications across Australia if the issue wasn’t managed correctly, including jeopardising approvals for future mines.