‘Protect yourself and your mates’ urges Stewart

More responsibility must be taken by every single worker on Queensland mine sites, particularly leaders, to keep people safe, says State Resources Minister Scott Stewart. The minister faced questions at a media conference on the effectiveness of mine safety legislation and whether the regulator needed more teeth in the wake of the fourth workplace death this year on Queensland's coalfields. Related: Parliament passes mining safety law reforms "We've introduced new legislation that is aimed to protect workers, particularly in light of what happened at the Grosvenor explosion ... in May 2020," Mr Stewart said. "So a lot of the work that we've been doing is around that introduction, but at the end of the day, every single person on that work site, on that mine site, is responsible for the safety of themselves and their workmates that they're working with. "So I implore every single person who goes to work on a site. Please, please follow every single safety procedure. If you don't think it's safe, stop, report it and wait for that to be addressed before continuing on. "You've got to call out unsafe procedures..... you've got to protect yourself and your mates every day. "We want you to go home so you can enjoy your family and your friends." Resources Minister Scott Stewart. The Queensland Parliament in June passed Resources Safety Acts amendments, bringing in a suite of reforms spurred by recent mine accident probes including the Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry held after an underground explosion injured five men at Grosvenor mine near Moranbah in 2020. The State Government said the reforms facilitated high-reliability organisation behaviours within the resources sector and modernised regulatory enforcement powers. Critical controls are a particular focus and aim to address serious risks on mine sites. Related: Mining contractor charged with industrial manslaughter Emergency services were called to the latest accident scene at Glencore's Oaky Creek coal complex yesterday afternoon to find a 51-year old man with fatal head injuries and another worker, in his 20s, with life-threatening head, arm and leg injuries. Mr Stewart said he knew that the pain was felt across the industry when an incident such as the Oaky Creek accident occurred. "They feel that pain. It's one of their family members lost, is the feeling that's been expressed to me," he said. "So my thoughts and prayers to family and friends of that man. "My understanding at this stage is that Resources Safety and Health Queensland have inspectors on site now doing their preliminary investigations. "We won't know for quite some time the extent of what caused that particular accident, but it will be thoroughly investigated. "I also understand that the second man was transported to Rockhampton Hospital where he's in a stable condition now with some very serious injuries." You may also like: https://industryqld.com.au/call-for-minesite-deaths-inquiry/

‘Protect yourself and your mates’ urges Stewart

Industry Queensland

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