Charges laid over death at Saraji coalmine
The Queensland government has quietly charged mining giant BMA over the death of a man at its Queensland Saraji coalmine.
The Queensland government has quietly charged mining giant BMA over the death of a man at its central Queensland Saraji coalmine in late 2018, one of a horror spate of eight fatalities in 18 months.
Allan Houston, 49, died on New Year’s Eve 2018 when his dozer rolled and fell 18m off an embankment, landing upside down in a pool of mud and water.
Queensland’s Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy has filed charges in the Industrial Court in Mackay against BMA and a BMA representative “alleging breaches of statutory safety and health obligations resulting in the death of Mr Allan Houston”.
The prosecution has shaken BMA — a BHP Mitsubishi Alliance — with the company’s asset president, James Palmer, conceding to staff it was “deeply disappointing news”.
“Since the terrible loss of Allan, and throughout our Incident Cause and Analysis Method investigation (ICAM), we have worked in partnership with DNRME, openly sharing our findings and the steps we are taking to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Mr Palmer wrote in an email to staff.
He said that while mining had risks, with the right procedures and controls in place there was “absolutely no reason why we can’t all go home safely at the end of every day”.
“At BMA, and more broadly across BHP, we fully agree with the state government, the union and other stakeholders that the deaths of eight miners at work over the last 18 months is completely unacceptable,” Mr Palmer said.
“Until we get this right, there will continue to be a black mark against what we do.”
The department confirmed it had also started legal proceedings against two quarry operators over the deaths of workers in 2018, as well as prosecuting a Glencore-run coal-handling and preparation plant over serious injuries suffered by a worker.
CFMEU mining division Queensland president Stephen Smyth said the mining industry had a culture of production-at-all-costs, even safety.
Mr Smyth said it was imperative that industrial manslaughter legislation be extended to the mining industry in Queensland as soon as possible.
“It’s well overdue in the mining industry and we’ve seen deaths keep coming, it’s a continuation of the carnage in the mining industry,” Mr Smyth said.
“There needs to be a proper deterrent.”
Mr Smyth said it was the worst period of deaths in his 35 years in the state’s mining industry, apart from the devastating Moura mine explosion in 1994, when 11 miners died.
Mines Minister Anthony Lynham told parliament in November that he would introduce industrial manslaughter legislation this year.
“This offence already exists on other Queensland workplaces, and our mine and quarry workers deserve the same protections,” Dr Lynham said at the time.
Labor was forced to excise the mining industry from such legislation that covered other sectors before the 2017 state election, after the Queensland Resources Council threatened to campaign against the Palaszczuk government on the issue.