Queensland District

The mining industry should continue to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic, but mining companies must ramp up measures to protect worker and community safety, the Miners’ Union said today.
 
CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland President Stephen Smyth said mining was essential for jobs and the economy during the current crisis, but companies need to lift their health and safety game.
 
“It is possible for mining companies to substantially manage the risks associated with exposing workers to COVID-19,” said Mr Smyth.
 

Mining and energy workers are continuing to work through the COVID-19 outbreak. We have developed an online hub for essential information for our Members regarding safety, workplace rights, industry developments, government services and facts about the disease.

Our industries are important for keeping Australia’s economy going during this difficult time and the Union is committed to advocating strongly for our Members’ rights, safety and livelihoods.

On March 23, 1887 the Bulli colliery blew up, killing 81 mineworkers. It was one of Australia’s worst industrial disasters.

The explosion occurred immediately after a fuse had been fired. The blast swept up the tunnel, making the mine an inferno.

Deadly carbon monoxide followed in the wake of the fire, and few managed to get to the tunnel mouth.

Three hours after the explosion the first bodies were recovered. Rescue operations were hampered by a lack of safety lamps.

Major mining companies must meet their responsibilities to workers and their communities during COVID-19 Pandemic

Statement by Tony Maher CFMEU and Daniel Walton AWU

Like all Australians we are concerned about the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus and the social, economic and health impacts of the global pandemic.

A new report by the McKell Institute has found that hundreds of millions of dollars is being lost from key mining region economies every year as a result of the widespread replacement of permanent mining jobs with outsourced labour hire.

It examines three coal regions* in Australia with the highest proportion of mining jobs, finding the direct and indirect economic impacts of the lower wages paid to labour hire workers is up to $825 million a year.

Senior officials from CFMEU Mining & Energy will argue that mining executives should not be given an exemption from industrial manslaughter laws when they appear before a Queensland Parliamentary Committee in Moranbah tonight.
 
“No-one should be above the law,” said CFMEU Mining &Energy Queensland President Stephen Smyth.
 
“The whole point of industrial manslaughter laws is the ensure that people take responsibility for their safety obligations.
 
“Parliamentarians must not give mining bosses a free pass on industrial manslaughter.”

Mining is a multinational industry and companies must be held to the highest standards when it comes to dust exposure for workers, participants at a global conference on occupational dust diseases on the Gold Coast has heard.

“Companies like Rio Tinto, BHP and Anglo operate across borders,” said CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland President Stephen Smyth.

A new ‘one stop shop’ and confidential hotline announced by the Queensland Government today is a welcome initiative to support the growing number of Queenslanders affected by mine dust lung diseases, the Miners’ Union said today.
With the number of confirmed cases of mine dust diseases including Black Lung climbing to 133, current and former mineworkers need support to navigate the complex range of services available, said CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland President Stephen Smyth.

A major report into Queensland mining fatalities released today warns that more workers will die unless the industry comprehensively changes its approach to safety.

The Brady Review of all fatal accidents in Queensland mines and quarries from 2000 to 2019 is a thorough and timely report that points to industry complacency on safety and a disturbing lack of basic measures like training and supervision contributing to fatalities, the Miners’ Union said.

The Miners’ Union has welcomed the introduction of a Bill to Queensland Parliament today to extend industrial manslaughter laws to the state’s mining industry.

The new legislation would create a criminal offence where negligence contributes to the death of a mineworker; and bring mining into line with other industries where individual executives and managers face jail time.

“The industry has fought tooth and nail against being held accountable for worker deaths,” said CFMEU Mining and Energy Queensland President Stephen Smyth.