Opinion: Bootu Creek Mine death shows NT needs safer workplaces, writes PHILLIPPA BUTT

YOU’RE three times more likely to die at work in the NT than anywhere else in the nation. This isn’t good enough and needs to change, PHILLIPPA BUTT writes

Craig Butler was killed while working at the Bootu Creek Mine. We need to work to make sure his was the last workplace death in the Northern Territory

WHEN Craig Butler’s family last spoke to him, they had no idea it would be the last conversation they’d have.

The 59-year-old was at work at the Bootu Creek Mine, 130km north of Tennant Creek, last Saturday when a wall collapsed at the site, burying him alive.

Friends shared memories of the “great bloke” on social media and family were, understandably, distraught.

But Craig was already fighting against the worst odds in the country.

According to WorkSafe statistics from 2017, just working in the Northern Territory gave him a 5 per cent chance of being killed while on the job.

Had Craig been working anywhere else in the nation, his chances of a workplace accident would have been reduced drastically, to about 1.5 per cent.

Living and working in the Northern Territory means a lot of things.

It means fishing, camping, hiking.

It means beers with your mates on a Friday night and, in Darwin, watching sunsets with market food on a Sunday.

It means a laid-back lifestyle.

But this laid-back lifestyle cannot mean relaxed rules in the workplace.

EXCLUSIVE: Shocking video of mine wall collapse

It cannot, and should not, mean Territorians risk their lives when they go to work.

In 2017 alone there were seven deaths at workplaces in the Northern Territory.

Already this year two others have been killed on the job in the NT.

In February, Derick Suratin was electrocuted while working on the Tennant Creek Fire Station and in April Dwayne Beaumont was killed in Berrimah when an excavator bucket dislodged and struck him.

In February another man was critically injured when a 1.5 tonne electrical switchboard fell on him at the Palmerston Police Station.

Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union NT organiser Kane Lowth this week said his thoughts were with the family but also argued more needed to be done to make the Territory a safer place for workers.

“There have been an increased number of serious incidents and fatalities across the resource industry of late and we are not learning from it,” he said.

“After a spate of critical incidents in Queensland all mines have done or are doing mandatory resets to put the focus back on safety.

“While this investigation was ongoing, it is a fact that people are three times more likely not to return home from work in the NT then any other state or territory in the country and that calls for major change in how we do business here.

“We should never be silent on safety and sadly for some companies safety becomes a poor second to their operations.”

The Bootu Creek pit wall collapse had an estimated 48,000 or more cubic metres of rock and soil fell. The wall collapse killed mining superintendent Craig Butler. Picture: DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY AND RESOURCES

Unions have been pushing for industrial manslaughter laws in the Northern Territory for years.

Industrial manslaughter laws mean a company can be held criminally responsible for someone’s death, and in serious cases, directors or managers of companies can face jail time personally if their company kills someone.

This is important because it means companies (and their directors) can be properly held accountable for someone’s death, rather than just getting a slap on the wrist from NT Worksafe.

Currently, the NT system in particular favours employers and companies, because they are protected from negligence claims by no-fault compensation and NT Worksafe often fail to prosecute and prefer to issue undertakings instead.

These issues have created a culture in the NT where it’s cheaper for a company to kill a worker than to put proper safety measures in place.

Industrial manslaughter laws would help bring the balance back by making companies take responsibility for killing people.

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The NT Government is working towards introducing these laws.

In July, it supported, and supported-in-principle, 23 of the 27 recommendations from the Best Practice Review of Workplace Health and Safety in the NT by an independent consultant.

A six-month review of the Territory’s workplace regulator, NT WorkSafe, looked at current policies, procedures and activities, and considered how best practices can be implemented to support the industry.

The Government has a plan to create a new offence of industrial manslaughter with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for an individual or a fine of up to $10 million for a body corporate.

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It intends to formalise an investigations unit within the NT WorkSafe Inspectorate to focus on investigating serious incidents and fatalities, and to strengthen approval processes and communication around enforceable undertakings. These are all good steps but they must happen soon.

There is no doubt the majority of workplace accidents are just that: accidents. But that’s doesn’t mean we should accept them.

As Territorians we should not accept we’re more likely to die at work than anyone else around the country. The only acceptable number of workplace deaths is zero.