Face of Nation : The Queensland government has widened an independent review into mining health and safety which will examine all fatal incidents in mines and quarries over the past 20 years after another fatal mine incident.
The state government held a meeting on Monday with representatives of the mining industry and unions including the QRC, CFMMEU and AWU to discuss the prevention of on-the-job fatalities.
Queensland Mines Minister Anthony Lynham said he was “extremely distressed and concerned” there had been six mining and quarry worker deaths in the past 12 months.
After the meeting Dr Lynham announced a review into fatal coal mine incidents would be expanded to include mineral mine and quarry incidents since 2000.
Forensic structural engineer Sean Brady will lead the review, which will examine how the industry can improve.
The University of Queensland will also review the state’s mining health and safety legislation to ensure it’s up to date with mining practice and technology.
Dr Lynham said all industry representatives at Monday’s meeting supported the reviews, which will be completed by the end of the year.
It follows the death of a 27-year-old man at the Baralaba North Coal Mine in central Queensland on Sunday, hours before another man was injured at a coal mine in the state’s north.
It was the sixth mining death – four of which were coal workers – in Queensland in the past 12 months.
NRW Holdings said the man worked with their subsidiary, Golding, at the mine, where operations have been halted until further notice.
CFMMEU Queensland mining and energy president Steve Smyth said Monday’s meeting was productive and a good start to improving industry safety.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Smyth said he was looking forward to a proposed safety forum with industry representatives and mining chief executives on Wednesday.
QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane agreed good progress had been made.
“We will begin that dialogue immediately and take action to make sure we do everything we can so this doesn’t happen again,” he told reporters after the meeting.
Just hours after the fatality at Baralaba North, a man, 57, fell about 10 metres from a platform at Glencore’s Collinsville Coal Mine.
He suffered suspected back and pelvic injuries when he fell in the coal washery area, and the Mines Inspectorate is investigating.
Late last month, excavator operator David Routledge died after a wall collapsed at Middlemount Coal Mine in the Isaac region.
Isaac region mayor Anne Baker said at the time it was the third loss of life in her region in six months following earlier deaths at Saraji Mine and Moranbah North Mine.
