Risk management
Industrial manslaughter laws: A path to a safer sector THE QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT HAS TABLED A BILL FOR INDUSTRIAL MANSLAUGHTER IN STATE PARLIAMENT TO HELP RESTORE A STRONG SAFETY CULTURE IN THE MINING INDUSTRY.
T
he Queensland mining industry has taken a defiant stand following a series of fatalities that hit the “tightknit” resources sector last year. Those working in the industry are aware of the impact that the eight lives that were lost over the past 18 months had. The tragedies have pushed the Queensland Government to conduct a safety crackdown to reverse the trend. Among initiatives, the tabling of industrial manslaughter laws to Queensland parliament seeks to make mining a safer place for all employees. Mining executives could now face up to 20 years in jail if Queensland’s mine and quarry workers die due to criminal negligence, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME). “Legislation introduced to
Queensland’s parliament on February 4 creates the offence of industrial manslaughter, bringing resources workplaces in line with all other Queensland workplaces,” the DNRME states. “Queensland already has the toughest mine safety and health laws in the world, and the laws give the state’s 50,000 mine and quarry workers the same protections as other Queensland workers.” The DNRME proposes that senior officers of a mine or quarry company can be tried for industrial manslaughter if criminal negligence is proven for a worker’s death. An employer commits an offence when their negligent conduct causes the death of a mine worker with or without the involvement of explosives. The bill sets out a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment, 100,000 penalty units and up to $13 million.
Mineworkers should be trained to perform tasks according to OEM requirements.
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Ian Macfarlane of the Queensland Resources Council.
“The new laws are part of a suite of sweeping mine safety and health reforms,” the DNRME states. “Those include $35 million to deliver reforms to improve the safety and health of our mine workers (and) extra mines inspectors.” The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) welcomes the industrial manslaughter amendment bill, stating that such laws already exist in other industry sectors. “QRC accepts the introduction of industrial manslaughter as an offence in the resources sector,” QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane says. “However, QRC is concerned the current proposed legislation unintentionally weakens the mine safety reforms introduced two decades ago following the Moura 2 Mine tragedy that claimed 11 lives on 7 August 1994.
