Pressure on contractors a safety concern, inquiry told

Pressure on contractors to get the job done as quickly as possible was a key factor behind many safety issues, a Grasstree coal mine employee has told the Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry. Grasstree deputy and Site Safety and Health Representative (SSHR) Richard Harris also believed the reporting culture could be a lot better at the mine. "In my experience, it is mainly contractors who are worried about reporting safety matters because they fear losing their jobs," he said in a written statement prepared for the inquiry. "Permanent full-time employees seem to be better at reporting matters partly because they often also have the union as backup, but also because they have job security and they are not afraid of losing their jobs for identifying safety issues." Under questioning during the Board of Inquiry's public hearings this week Mr Harris said those observations about contractors were based on his general experience rather than Anglo American's Grasstree mine in particular: "You might come across them doing something probably not to the procedure, and I have spoken to them, and they've just said, 'Well, yeah, it's all right for you. You're permanent. You won't lose your job'. "That has happened over the years. It hasn't happened at Grasstree since I've been back (since early 2018), but it has happened in my mining career," he said. Mr Harris also agreed under questioning that he had never observed someone punished for genuinely raising a safety concern. Mr Harris - a CFMEU member and a coal mine worker with 23 years of underground experience - was asked to recount the response when he raised the issue of people's fear of reporting with management. "Because of the pressures that the contractors have felt and those issues they have brought to me, I've actually gone to the production or operations manager at the time and spoken to him about it," he told the hearing on Tuesday. "The next day, he addressed the workforce at the pre-shift meeting and saidthere will be no reprisals for anyone who speaks up for any safety issues. "So they reiterated it to the workforce. That happened over a couple of shifts, so everyone on my side heard about it." He agreed under questioning by Anglo American lawyer Saul Holt that as SSHR he acted as an 'escape valve' - someone the coal mine workers could report issues to, and that he would keep reports anonymous when asked. He also agreed that mine management took his recommendations on safety issues seriously and actioned them accordingly. The Board of Inquiry was established to investigate the serious accident at Grosvenor mine near Moranbah on May 6 in which five coal mine workers were injured. It is also looking into various high potential incidents involving long-wall related exceedances of methane at Grosvenor mine, Grasstree mine, Moranbah North mine, and Oaky Creek mine between July 1 last year and May 5 2020. In his written statement prepared for the inquiry Mr Harris said contractors were pushed very hard. "Management wants the job done and if they don't get the job done properly or fast enough then they will just get new contractors," he stated. "I think that creates a perception that contractors are unable to reportsafety matters because they will lose their contract, however the reality is that it is usually based solely on the performance of their role." He said one factor behind the non-reporting culture was that people were knowingly cutting corners and engaging in unsafe practices to get a job done quickly and would not want to dob in themselves or their workmates for doing so. But during questioning on Tuesday he said he hadn't had too many issues along those lines in his most recent stint with Anglo. Among the concerns Mr Harris listed in his written statement was the fact the mine was 'rapidly filling up with inexperienced people', saying he believed this had a flow-on effect in relation to safety. "When someone starts working at the mine, they need to wear a yellow hat for their first three months of employment, and then upon completing three months of continuous service they are then given a white hat," he said. "There is no differentiation between different levels of experience once you have a white hat. I have observed that many people who have only just obtained their white hat teaching people with yellow hats different methods and practices. "I think it is very dangerous that inexperienced people are teaching other inexperienced people. "There was an incident recently where a crew was not following the bolting pattern to a tee. They were directed to pull back and to re-bolt the bolts. "People just don't seem to understand how bad things can go wrong when they don't follow set processes."

Pressure on contractors a safety concern, inquiry told

Industry Queensland

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