Annual reports tabled in Queensland Parliament

Interim Commissioner for Resources Safety and Health Andrew Clough said the reports detailed the key activities and achievements of the Commissioner and the advisory committees during the 2022–23 financial year.

“These annual reports illustrate the significant projects and activities that were completed by the previous Commissioner Kate du Preez under the Commissioner for Resources Safety and Health strategic plan 2022–27,” Andrew said.

“Of particular importance was the work achieved to progress the Queensland mining industry safety reporting survey.

“Queensland’s mining industry has experienced a number of reviews, reports and inquiries and a common theme has been a need to better understand safety reporting culture in the Queensland mining industry.

“The survey was launched on 1 June 2023 and aimed to establish a baseline of the safety reporting behaviours at mine sites and identify key opportunities and barriers to achieving a responsive and effective safety reporting culture,” he said.

“The results of the survey are due to be published soon and will enable benchmarking of industry safety reporting culture and provide focus areas for industry and the advisory committees to target for further research and continuous improvement.”

Other key achievements outlined in the annual report included:

• ongoing support for the Report for Safety strategic engagement campaign
• commencement of an independent expert review of the effectiveness of Resources Safety and Health Queensland as a regulator in the context of recommendations made by the Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry and the Brady Review
• completion of an expert report examining fatigue and fatigue management in the Queensland mining industry and its relationship with mental health and safety outcomes
• fostering collaboration and dissemination of lessons learned by facilitating an industry workshop in cooperation with the Queensland Resources Council on dozer safety
• providing leadership and project management support and resources to assist the advisory committees in achieving the objectives outlined in their five-year strategic plans.

In addition to the Commissioner’s annual report, the Minister also tabled the annual reports for the two safety and health advisory committees.

Andrew said both advisory committees made progress in implementing activities outlined in their five-year strategic plans.

“A particularly significant achievement for the Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee was the development and publishing of the Risk assessment education resource to assist industry to improve the quality of operational risk management in the mineral mining and quarrying industry,” he said.

“This resource has been used extensively across the mineral mining and quarrying industry and has even proved popular with businesses in other hazardous industries.”

Andrew said both advisory committees were able to provide consistently high-level tripartite advice to the Minister because of the effective governance arrangements in place and the extensive engagement undertaken with industry stakeholders.

The annual reports of the Commissioner for Resources Safety and Health, Coal Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee and the Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee are available here.