Mining industry caught in ‘fatality cycle’ report warns

The Queensland mining industry is caught in a 'fatality cycle' and deaths will continue at the present rate unless it makes significant changes, a key safety report warns. The Brady review of fatal accidents at the state’s mines and quarries over the past 20 years found the industry went through periods of increasing and decreasing vigilance. "Past behaviour suggests that in the order of 12 fatalities are likely to occur over any five-year period," report author Dr Sean Brady wrote. And the industry's own 'fatalistic' view of the hazardous nature of the work may be the biggest stumbling block to change. The review was initiated by Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Minister Anthony Lynham last year following a run of five deaths in the mining and quarrying sector in 2018/19. Among Dr Brady's 11 recommendations in the report released today was that the industry recognise that the causes of fatalities were typically a combination of banal, everyday, straightforward factors, such as a failure of controls, a lack of training, and/or absent or inadequate supervision. "Internal incident investigations in mining companies must strive to capture these combinations of causal factors, and avoid simplifying them to a single cause, such as human error, bad luck or freak accidents, which has the potential to mask the underlying system failures," Dr Brady wrote. Almost all of the fatalities studied had been the result of systemic, organisational, supervision or training failures. Human error alone would not have caused the deaths, he said. Among the key recommendations was greater focus on ensuring workers were appropriately supervised for the tasks they are undertaking. "In 32 of the 47 fatalities, the worker was required to be supervised when undertaking the task, i.e., the 32 did not include routine tasks, such as driving. Twenty-five of these 32 fatalities involved inadequate or absent supervision. Seventeen of the fatalities involved a lack of training or inadequate training for the specific task being undertaken and inadequate or absent supervision," Dr Brady wrote. " Not only does absent or inadequate supervision allow tasks to be approached in an unsafe manner, but it also greatly amplifies the consequences of a lack of training or ineffective or unenforced controls." The report noted the need for the industry to shift its focus from Lost Time Injuries (LTIs) and the Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) as a safety indicator. And it said the regulator should develop a simplified incident reporting system that was unambiguous and easy to use, rather than acting as an administrative burden to reporting. QRC commits to 'redoubling efforts' The Queensland Resources Council endorses all of the recommendations of the Brady Review, according to chief executive Ian Macfarlane. "It contains information that industry as a whole can use, as well as being a resource that individual operations can use to help them better manage hazards at their own sites. We thank Dr Sean Brady for his detailed work," he said. "The Brady Report says: The six fatalities that occurred between July 2018 and July 2019 have been described by some in the industry as evidence of an industry in crisis, but a bleaker assessment is that this is an industry resetting itself to its normal fatality rate. "This is a very sobering assessment that the industry takes seriously. "QRC commits to redoubling efforts to do everything possible to maintain vigilance and remain safe. QRC fully accepts that while the mining industry has inherent risk we must always improve the focus on the practical actions that can keep our workers safe. QRC will now undertake further detailed review of Dr Brady’s findings as a matter of urgency." Mr Macfarlane said the QRC was coordinating work with experts and companies to identify practical programs to implement safety principles identified in Dr Brady’s report. Read the full report HERE https://www.i-q.net.au/main/union-backs-industrial-manslaughter-bill

Mining industry caught in ‘fatality cycle’ report warns

Industry Queensland

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