CFMEU calls on Anglo American to be first in QLD coal mining inquiry
The mining industry will again come under scrutiny amid a new parliamentary inquiry into safety recommendations following the devastating Grosvenor blast.
Mackay
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Workers at the coalface must be allowed to speak out without reprisal during a new inquiry into safety at Queensland coal mines, the miners’ union has urged.
A Transport and Resources Committee will steer a new parliamentary inquiry into whether mines have acted on any of the 65 recommendations handed down in a separate inquiry into the Grosvenor mine explosion.
Five workers were seriously injured during the blast at the Anglo American-owned mine on May 6, 2020, with Airlie Beach man Wayne Sellars describing it as having felt like “standing in a blowtorch”.
CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland president Stephen Smyth said it was a blessing the “whole mine didn’t explode” that day and “wipe out” 180 workers.
Mr Smyth is urging the terms of reference for the new inquiry to include opportunities for workers to speak out, without risk of reprisal, on whether mines have, or are considering, implementing the recommendations.
“The workers should be encouraged to come forward,” Mr Smyth said.
“The people that will tell you the reality will be the people at the coalface.”
Mr Smyth said since the recommendations were issued in November 2020, the union had received “plenty” of concerns from mining employees that centred on methane exceedances, coal dust monitoring, inadequate training, and rewarding the abstaining of lost time injury reports through bonuses and incentives.
He said the committee should start its inquiry with Anglo American in the crosshairs.
“(Theirs) should be the first four mines to come forward and demonstrate what they’ve done in terms of recommendations,” he said.
An Anglo American spokeswoman, in responding to the inquiry announcement, said Grosvenor had restarted longwall mining in February this year after either addressing or exceeding all relevant safety recommendations.
“We have been committed to learning and acting as quickly as possible to implement improvements across all our underground mines, including working with leading industry experts and investing significantly in underground automation technology, remote operations, gas management and data analytics,” the spokeswoman said.
She said Anglo American reported to the Queensland Parliament Transport and Resources Committee in August last year, and it extended an invitation for members to visit Grosvenor mine to “better understand” the enacted changes.
Recommendations made in the Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry included tightening controls for methane management, including classifying exceedances at or above 2.5 per cent as high potential incidents.
This publication understands Anglo American had ordered new methane monitoring systems for its Grosvenor mine following the explosion.
It is further understood the new systems record data leading up to possible methane exceedances that trigger power being switched off upstream.
Two possible causes of ignitions underground include the gradual leaking of methane to unsafe levels or a physical impact releasing a large pocket of gas.
The latter was blamed for the Grosvenor explosion which Anglo American Metallurgical Coal Business chief executive officer Tyler Mitchelson said was a “completely unacceptable incident” in the August 2021 report to the committee.
Mr Mitchelson added the company would invest $1.5 billion to 2026 on gas management across its operations.
Anglo American underground operations head executive Craig Manz said they were centralising gas monitoring to “make it much easier and more visual” for operators.
The report also addressed the inquiry’s recommendation for the industry to place greater weight on lead safety indicators rather than determine
executive bonuses on LTI reporting, or lack thereof.
Mr Mitchelson said enacting this recommendation was complicated by having to negotiate enterprise agreements.
Mr Smythe said this was a “cop out” aimed at giving senior management “breathing space”.
“At best the LTI frequency rate is a distraction that focuses on the wrong safety measure, at worst it results in early warning signs being missed,” he said.
“If you want to reward people, reward people for reporting high potential incidents or hazards that have gone unknown.”
Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the safety of every mine worker was a priority and a core value of every mining operation in the state.
“We look forward to sharing with the Queensland community just how seriously our companies take their responsibility to provide a safe operating environment, and where improvements can be made in any area, we will listen and follow the recommendations of the experts,” he said.
Resources Minister Scott Stewart said it was “critical” that Queenslanders could be confident the mining industry was doing “everything it possibly (could)” to ensure resource workers came home safely after every shift.
Mr Stewart said he would continue working with the Queensland Resources Council and was receiving fortnightly updates from independent health and safety regulator, Resources Safety and Health Queensland.
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