Solid Energy final submissions to the Pike River Inquiry

Solid Energy final submissions to the Pike River Inquiry

In its final submission to the Pike River Royal Commission of Inquiry, Solid Energy has recommended that the Queensland Mines Inspectorate be contracted to provide inspection services for New Zealand and that the regulations governing New Zealand underground mining should be based on and broadly aligned with Queensland’s regime.

“We believe the fundamental underpinning of New Zealand’s workplace health and safety regime – that it is the employer’s responsibility to do everything they practicably can to ensure the safety of everyone at their sites – is sound and that mining should continue to operate within that general framework,” says Dr Don Elder, Solid Energy’s Chief Executive Officer. “We say that, beneath that, the specific regulations governing underground mining can be improved and that the best, most sustainable, way of doing this is to broadly align our national framework with that of Queensland.”

Solid Energy applauded recent efforts by the Department of Labour to lift its inspectorate capability. The company was already seeing the benefits of that, with increased visits to its mines and exchanges which were helping Solid Energy understand what more it could do to improve its systems, processes and expertise.

“That’s as it should be,” Dr Elder says. “Highly skilled and respected inspectors working with employers and their workforces to continually lift the bar on health and safety and spread best-practice throughout the industry. But that’s not the whole story. Inspectors also need to continually build their expertise, they and the industry need research capability to look at the best advances overseas and evaluate how those might be applied locally, and they need statistical support to measure progress and identify areas where extra effort is needed. We need all of those things if improvement is to be sustainable.

“On an international scale, New Zealand mining is a small industry and it would be very difficult, and expensive, to provide all of those services,” Dr Elder says. “Our suggestion is that the Government opens discussions with its counterparts at federal and state level in Australia to find out if an existing service which already has that capability – we are suggesting Queensland because we believe it is at the forefront of safety in Australia – would be able to contract to provide inspectorate and support services.”

Solid Energy continues to oppose a mandatory role for worker-appointed check inspectors.

“We do not want to see this discussion restricted to a debate about the merits of union-appointed representatives,” says Dr Elder. “Solid Energy’s opinion – that the check inspector system, on balance, brings more negatives than positives – has not changed and no doubt the trade union view also will not have changed. That particular element is just one aspect of our submission. We believe there are numerous ways to foster strong input to safety from everyone in an operation. Our overall point is that industry safety improves fastest and most sustainably when everyone involved commits to it, takes personal responsibility for it and where mining organisations are supported by a highly experienced, respected and well-resourced inspectorate.”

Management of future underground coal mine emergencies
The person in charge at the scene of any future underground coal mine emergency must be an expert practitioner, Solid Energy says. For Solid Energy’s operations, in most cases that person would be the manager of the mine.

“We know that everyone involved in the Pike River response was trying their very best, all the agencies and all the individuals,” Dr Elder says. “But we believe the evidence is very clear that the challenges posed by underground coal mines are unique and cannot be quickly and easily understood by people who are not involved in their operation.

“Solid Energy therefore says it is essential that on-site management of any future incident must be in the hands of someone who understands this complex environment, and preferably someone who has intimate knowledge of the particular mine. They are best suited to prioritising action and to deciding how particular outside agencies’ skills will assist the overall effort.”

In the preface to its submission, Solid Energy says the explosions at the Pike River Coal Mine were devastating. The company acknowledges the men who lost their lives, their families, the West Coast community, everyone involved with the rescue and recovery effort and all those who have been and continue to be personally affected by the tragedy.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry began its final phase in Greymouth this morning. It is expected to wrap up the public side of its work on Thursday (4 April) and report to the Governor General by 28 September 2012.

Solid Energy’s resource portfolio includes two underground coal mines -- Huntly East in Waikato and Spring Creek in the Grey District near Greymouth. The company has several other coal resources currently under consideration for development as underground mines, or as combined underground/opencast operations.

ENDS

SolidEnergyFinalSubmissionsPikeRiverRoyalCommission.pdf

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