29 August, 2011
The ruling National Party in New Zealand took a correct industrial safety decision two weeks ago when the conservative government of Prime Minister John Key authorised NZ$1.5 million annually from an existing account to create a high hazards unit in the mining, and oil and gas industries. The decision comes in the wake of the tragic Pike River coal mine deaths nine months ago, a damning indictment on National’s business-friendly agenda of the 1990s, but the decision also comes with strong voice that more must come regarding regulations and stringent deterrents to protect all workers on the job in New Zealand.
New Zealand’s Labour Party also said more must be done, stating check inspectors must be re-established on company payrolls to ensure monitoring and compliance. The Nationals eliminated mandatory worksite safety specialists in 1992 in deregulatory measures pushed by business.
The ICEM states the hazards unit is a positive step coming just after first-phase hearings of the Pike River Royal Commission finished, and commends the New Zealand government for improving industrial safety in the country. The ICEM also encourages New Zealand through the Royal Commission to examine the safety structure at Pike River, compare it with best-practice standards of the world, and then begin a process to ratify and implement the tenets inside ILO Convention 176.
Establishment of the high hazards unit also comes a year after a government review of health and safety and environmental issues in the offshore petroleum industry. The review recommended an increase in the number of safety inspectors.
The high hazards unit will have three inspectors, plus a chief inspector each in the mines and energy sector, and a support and research staff of three. In comparison, New Zealand has only two mine inspectors – one position now being vacant – and it has only a single oil and gas inspector to cover upstream production over a wide expanse.
The NZ$1.5 million will be funded from a special levy that the government has collected over the years in a Health and Safety in Employment Memorandum Account.
Ged O’Connell, Assistant National Secretary of the Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), said it was a breakthrough for the government, “but more still needs to be done. There is the need for decent regulations and reinstatement of the check inspector role to provide the full check and balance required.”
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) President Helen Kelly said first-phase Pike River testimony before the Royal Commission made it clear that stronger mine safety regulations are critical. “We can’t wait and risk another disaster when we already know that other measures are also necessary,” said Kelly.
Phase one of the Royal Commission’s inquiry into the deadly string of Pike River Coal Mine explosions that took 29 lives ended on 22 July 2011. Phase two hearings will start on 5 September in Greymouth, near the Pike River mine on the South Island, and run until 23 September. Phase two will centre on time and circumstance of death for the 29, safety and rescue efforts, and site effectiveness in the horrid weeks after the 19 November 2010 initial explosion.