Mineral producers should put worker safety first says authority

Every resources employee should have their health and wellbeing prioritised, an advocate said.

The Queensland Government urged every mining company to put work safety first.

“Safety is my number-one priority as the minister and it should be for every mine operator,” State Resources and Critical Minerals Minister Scott Stewart said in a public statement.

“The resources industry is a key driver of the Queensland economy, creating jobs and delivering a range of benefits for the state including royalties. However, the most important thing to come out of any workplace at the end of each shift is its workers.”

Stewart and the rest of the Steven Miles government recently proposed amending the Resources Safety Act in response to Sean Brady’s review of mining fatalities, the Coal Mining Board of Inquiry into the Grosvenor coal mine explosion, and industry wide safety reset feedback.

If approved Resources Safety and Health Queensland’s audit and inspection program would be responsible for ensuring critical controls are implemented into the safety and health management systems across all coal mines, mineral mines and quarries.

New certificates of competency could be introduced for mechanical engineering managers, electrical engineering managers and surface mine managers.

Existing operational directives could be modernised and streamlined, allowing them to be more specifically tailored to risks.

Labour hire workers and agencies would also be classified as contractors, which is promised to remove doubt about whether health and safety obligations apply to outsourcing agencies.

“Our resources industry can only thrive when it has safe and healthy workplaces. These changes are important to address recommendations concerning a number of serious incidents that should not happen again in the resources industry,” Stewart said.

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