Underground Coal Mining Site Senior Executives shameless silence about implementing Grosvenor Inquiry Recommendations.
The Chief Inspector Peter Newman gave verbal evidence to the Transport and Resource Committee for its Inquiry into Coal Mining Industry Safety on the 25th of October 2022. (link below)
https://tv.parliament.qld.gov.au/Committees?reference=C6734#parentVerticalTab11
It is specifically dealing with the Recommendations from the Grosvenor Inquiry
At about the 6th to 7th Minute Newman gives evidence about how the 27 Recommendations for the Industry have been implemented as well as the extra 3 specifically for Grosvenor
He explains how he wrote to all the Underground Site Senior Executives on the 28th of July 2022 with the subject being “Implementation of Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry Industry Recommendations”
His 1 page correspondence states how “NONE” of the SSE’s he had spoken to “has produced an implementation plan, clearly indicating which recommendations will be adopted at their mine, allocated resources, individuals responsible for tasks and the due date for implementation”
Newman indicates that he provided a copy of the RSHQ implementation tracker after requests for the tracker by some SSE’s.
The correspondence concludes by asking that the SSE provide the CIOCM the mines implementation tracker/plan by the end of October 2022. (Letter to SSE in link below)
CIOCM Newman states/complains to the Parliamentary Committee that not one SSE had yet to reply with only the then 5 days to go till the end of October
What it shows to me is how much the QRC, companies and RSHQ care about what came out of the Grosvenor Inquiry and why in just about every criteria it was arguably the least effective mining inquiry in Queensland’s history.
As the Chief Inspector states NOT ONE SSE had replied to his correspondence from 3 months previously with 5 days till the mandated reply date. This is after having over 17 months to consider the Recommendations.
Also unless RSHQ and the CIOCM misspoke both in writing and verbally, no SSE’s must logically include Grosvenor Mine.
This begs the question how did RSHQ allow Grosvenor to restart mining at Grosvenor?
Finally CIOCM Newman what are the RSHQ Inspectors going to do to any SSE and Coal Mine that do not reply by the 1st of November?
Are they going to issue a Directive suspending operations?
Will they let the Coal Miners and Public of Queensland know what if anything each mine and mining company have done before CIOCM Newman resigns/retires from the Inspectorate at the end of the year?
