100 Years since Mt Mulligan Disaster. Has Government Oversight of Mining Health and Safety ever been worse? Are they Negligent? Band Aids do not cover or heal bullet holes of the Coal Face Cannon Fodder
Mount Mulligan was by far the single biggest mining disaster in Queensland’s entire history.
The most enduring legacy was the for the enactment of a separate Coal Mining Act and Regulation and the Appointment and Employment of Government Inspectors which occurred in 1925.
With the 100 year Anniversary of Mount Mulligan upon us I ask the question
Has Government Oversight of Coal Miners Health and Safety ever been worse than it is now?
No doubt there are a number of Politicians, maybe even Mines Inspectors and other Public Servants who have flown into Cairns and made their way via GPS to Mount Mulligan for the one and only tine in their lives. All at taxpayers expense.
Phrases such as “we have learnt so much from the disasters in the past “we will never allow such an event to ever happen again“, every death is tragedy “, “we have the toughest most stringent Mining Legislation in the World“, “our Mines Inspectors will thoroughly investigate every fatality to make sure we all learn from it” “Technology will fix the problem” will abound.
I say that it is all just political bullshit spin and is just the Politicians and Public Service trying to use band-aids to cover and heal bullet wounds.
Since I entered the Industry 40 years ago there is no doubt in my mind that the Mines Inspectorate has never been more ineffective than it is at present.
Miners are still being treated as nothing but replaceable tools.
No wonder one of the new terms thrown around is COAL FACE CANNON FODDER.
The question has to be asked should there be another Royal Commission to see if the Mines Inspectorate have been negligent.
276 Protection from liability
- An official does not incur civil liability for an act done, or omission made, honestly and without negligence under this Act.
Example of an act done— giving information or advice
2) If subsection (1) prevents a civil liability attaching to an official, the liability attaches instead to the State.
The problem with the Mines Inspectorate are too many to list here, but one of the major problems is that the Mines Inspectorate now RSHQ has over the last 10 years especially has been able to operate in a bubble of Government Sanctioned Secrecy.
Even when Public Servants at the Mines Department/Inspectorate are accused of deliberately misleading the Parliamentary Committee investigating Black Lung, no Investigation was done and as far as Queensland Government is concerned they refuse to Investigate, The Matter is closed they say
The link below contains the full background
On top of that from what we have seen and heard at the Grosvenor Inquiry that the standard of Management in Coal Mines is unchanged in over 120 years and reflected in the Findings of Torbanlea Royal Commission in 1900.
The Commission are of opinion that, in the majority of cases, the persons employed to manage collieries are very much below the standard in intelligence, and knowledge of mining, that should be required of men filling such responsible and important positions
The Torbanlea Royal Commission in 1900 in fact was the first to Recommend a Separate Coal Mining Regulation Act in Queensland.
That, in view of the very great difference that exists between the working of coal and metalliferous mines, coal mines be worked under an entirely distinct Act.
The Torbanlea Royal Commission had also found that the majority of Mine Managers were NOT COMPETENT.
http://mineaccidents.com.au/uploads/report-of-the-royal-commission(1).pdf
The Commission are of opinion that, in the majority of cases, the persons employed to manage collieries are very much below the standard in intelligence, and knowledge of mining, that should be required of men filling such responsible and important positions ; and that the employment of á higher class of men as managers would not only do much to lessen the danger from accidents, but would also be advantageous to the owners, inasmuch as it would lead to the better working of their mines.
The Torbanlea Royal Commission also Recommended the establishment of a Board of Examiners:-
Management.
1. That, after a date to be suggested by the Board of Examiners recently appointed under Section 199 of the Act, no person shall be eligible to act as Manager of a Coal Mine in which more than ten persons are employed underground, unless he possess a First -Class Certificate of Competency, or a Certificate of Service.
2. That, after a date to be suggested by the Board of Examiners, no person shall be eligible to act as Underground Manager in any Coal Mine in which more than ten persons are employed underground, unless he hold at least a Second Class Certificate of Competency, or a Certificate of Service.
Despite the Findings and Recommendations of the Torbanlea 1900 Royal Commission the Governments of the day did not enact Coal Mining Safety Legislation.
In 1921 the Mount Mulligan Royal Commission again Recommended a SEPARATE COLLIERIES ACT and the Employment of Mines Inspectors.
1. The passing into law of an Act for collieries, separate and distinct from “The Mines Regulation Act of 1910,” with a re-enactment of all approved sections of the said Act.
INSPECTORS.
2. The administration of the said new Act to be under the supervision and direction of competent colliery men.
The appointment of Inspectors to be made from men who hold colliery manager’s certificates’ of competency.’
Inspectors to be equipped with all necessary instruments for inspection purposes, including a lamp capable of detecting 1 per cent. of methane.
Inspections to be made at intervals not exceeding three months, and to include an examination of the returns and other parts of the mine for methane, and
- the examination of roads, roof, and sides for dust;
- the state of the ventilation,
- the use of explosives in the mine,
- timbering, and
- mine conditions generally.
Records of all inspections to be made and returned to head office at intervals not exceeding one month.
It was not until four years later in 1925 that a Coal Mining Act was introduced.
Legislation of any description is only effective if it is applied, enforced and people/organizations are brought before a Court when they get caught blatantly breaking the Law especially when fatalities have resulted.
But the whole idea of any Legislation Enforcement is to prevent the Fatality in the first place.
The Police patrol the highways, have speed camera on board, radar traps, fixed and mobile.
If you get caught speeding you lose demerit points and lose your license if you are a repeat offender.
40km over the speed limit lose your license for unsafe operation.
Caught and Convicted of Hooning, lose your License and Your Car.
Negligent operation of Motor Vehicle Causing Death. Manslaughter Charges Jail Term
The Mines Inspectors never have caught stopped and fined anyone before a fatality ever.
No one has ever lost their Managers or Site Senior Executive Ticket after a Fatality either.
Let alone gone to jail.
That can only be if there is an enforcement agency that actually goes out and does it job and being subject to scrutiny themselves.
A precious few 3 or so Mining Fatalities have been subject a Coroner’s Inquiry.
North Goonyella has caught fire from spontaneous combustion, the mine has closed and everyone has lost their job.
The only details the public knows is what Peabody self disclosed in 2019 and from Superannuation Fund Initiated Court Action documents filed from New York USA where Peabody is accused of misleading the Stock Market over North Goonyella.
Peabody Statement March 2019
https://www.peabodyenergy.com/Media-Center/Newsroom
The Mines Inspectorate has put out two one pagers in 3 years saying its under Investigation and cannot comment because they may be enforcement action.
Enforcement action has 5 levels, Prosecution in Court the Last.
It will never go to Court in Queensland, maybe Current Inspectors and the now Ex- Mines Inspectors and then Management who still actively work in the Industry would have to give public evidence.
Meanwhile Grosvenor has a spontaneous combustion initiated methane explosion in 2020 gravely burning 5 Miners; then a month later an out of control spontaneous combustion, sealing of the longwall block followed by further explosions underground.
When then Minister McGrady made a unilateral decision to scrap the Mining Warden Inquiry it seems presented an opportunity for the Mines Inspectorate to become above scrutiny for its actions inactions.
They now do their own confidential Investigation and then decide if there was a need for any Coronial Inquests let alone prosecutions.
Over the last years we have all watched as a series of single person fatalities occur with not a thing being made public about the Findings and Recommendations.
Underground or open cut what the industry is witnessing is history repeating itself, we have memorials multiple times a year, Collinsville, Box Flat, Kianga, Moura 2 and 4 and Mt Mulligan.
Every 2 yrs we now have industry safety resets
Yet during this round of safety resets we have another Fatality.
Previous to that the serious events mentioned above with a plethora of HPI’s and other recordable Incidents filling the gaps in between.
Any layman can look at the lead and lag indicators and know that all the cherries are lining up.
Yet the industry refuses to admit there is a problem so In-turn refuses to fix the problem. Is it profit before people? Is it greed over incompetence or vice versa?
Of the 47 Mines Inspectors Fatality Investigation Reports between January 2000 and the end of July 2019 only 3 have ever been made public.
The only people to have ever read them is the Brady Heywood Review Team after Dr Anthony Lynham, Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, in 2019 announced an expert review would be undertaken to identify changes needed to improve health and safety in Queensland mines and quarries.
It is critically important to have a truly independent Investigation such as the Mining Warden conduct an Inquiry for each and every Fatality?
There is no more important an example as that which occurred in the Daniel Springer Investigation and Coronial Process.
The Investigation found
Site Senior Executive
The investigation revealed evidence to suggest that the appointed SSE at Goonyella Riverside mine was not the most senior officer employed who has responsibility for the coal mine as required by section 25 of the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999.
Evidence given by the maintenance manager showed that he did not report to the SSE but to the General Manager of Goonyella Riverside mine.
Towards the conclusion of the Coroners Findings the Coroner makes the following comment in Relation to the decision of the Mines Department not to Initiate a prosecution against anyone at all.
DNRM decision not to prosecute
84. DNRME advised at the conclusion of the investigation they would not proceed with a Prosecution in relation to the incident and requested an Inquest be conducted in the public interest.
Even worse it seems that the ONLY REASON that a Coronial Inquest is held is because the Mines Department decided that the Department decided not to prosecute anyone and in particular the Mine Operator who no doubt is a BMA Corporate Officer based in Brisbane.
So it seems that the Mines Department has decided that it is not in the Public Interest to Prosecute what is in my opinion the most blatant and high level breach of the Coal Mining Act since it was enacted in 1999.
The DNRME Compliance Policy has the following comment contained in it
Punitive: Where it is in the public interest, we pursue punitive action in respect of recurrent, recalcitrant or particularly egregious non-compliance.
DNRM 2017 rsh-compliance-policy
As I have outlined there is in my opinion no more egregious a non -compliance possible
A finding made by the Inspectors themselves and included in the Mines Departments own Report.
I tell you what is in the Public Interest,
The Mines Inspectors and Department do their job as Required under the Act for a start.
Mines Inspectors can be held Liable for Negligence under the Coal Mining Act.
276 Protection from liability
- An official does not incur civil liability for an act done, or omission made, honestly and without negligence under this Act.
Example of an act done— giving information or advice
- If subsection (1) prevents a civil liability attaching to an official, the liability attaches instead to the State.
This will never happen while the Mines Inspectors are in effect investigating their own actions/inactions at the same time.
Maybe we need a new Royal Commission, this one into the Mines Inspectorate.
At least they will be forced to give evidence on the public record, misleading or not
