Union confident about health and safety systems at Huntly

Friday 2 December 2011

Media Release

Union confident about health and safety systems at Huntly coalmine

The union representing miners at Solid Energy’s Huntly East operation, the EPMU, is confident there are good systems in place for health and safety management at the underground coalmine.

Solid Energy is holding a public meeting in Huntly this afternoon to outline what is happening at the mine in response to concerns about possible health and safety breaches involving gas levels. An EPMU official and union members will also be attending the meeting.

“We’re not aware of any complaints of the order of a Pike River-like health and safety situation at Huntly East,” says Ged O’Connell, EPMU assistant national secretary. “We are aware of a recent event that has led to an investigation by Solid Energy and the Department of Labour.”

The EPMU is strongly advocating for better mine safety and stronger regulation in the wake of the 2010 Pike River coalmine disaster in which 29 miners were killed.

“We are confident that Solid Energy is not a Pike operation and there’s a much higher level of accountability and responsibility because it is a state owned enterprise,” says O’Connell. “There’s also a large amount of across-the-board experience and knowledge of underground coal mining at Huntly, unlike Pike River where there was very little. However, one pressure point that’s developing is the loss of experienced miners to Australia who are attracted by better pay and conditions.”

O’Connell says the EPMU is recognised by Solid Energy as playing an integral role in mine safety at Huntly and has strong network of union health and safety representatives, delegates and officials working with the company to constantly monitor and improve health and safety systems.

“However, while we have a good level of engagement with Solid Energy we are still advocating at the national level for a world’s best practice approach to underground mining safety where we’d have the three-legged stool of excellent regulations, a highly competent and effective government inspectorate and worker-elected mine check inspectors,” says O’Connell.

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