Time to focus on the Health in OH & S
By Mark Champion, General Manager Advocacy and Industry Relations, EMA About 1500 metres into a hillside on the West Coast northeast of Greymouth, at 3.44pm on the afternoon of November 19, 2010, a methane explosion, followed by a series of other blasts, took the lives of 29 miners. The tragedy has forever changed the lives of the families and communities of those miners, but as a result of those deaths there is now a legacy – the tragedy has forever changed the landscape of Health and Safety practise in New Zealand. In the same month as the deaths of the 29, Prime Minister of the day, John Key announced the Government would conduct a Royal Commission of Inquiry – a tool rarely used, but generally aimed at delivering fundamental change. The Commission’s final report was released nearly two years after the tragedy, in November 2012. It found the disaster was a preventable tragedy, and whilst it could not pinpoint the actual cause of a series of explosions, it slammed the mine’s management for not properly assessing health and safety risks its workforce was facing. And it highlighted the Department of Labour’s parlous record as the former regulators of health and safety in New Zealand. The lawyer representing the dead miners’ families said the tragedy was also a result of the failure in the way the legislation had been applied and a failure of the Department of Labour in its inspectorate role. The report found the mine’s board of directors ignored health and safety risks and should have closed the mine until they were properly managed. The Government moved quickly: The work of the Department of Labour was transferred to the then new Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. A dedicated inspectorate for high-hazard industries, mining and petroleum was quickly established […]