Information for mine and quarry workers

A range of information and resources are available to help you understand how the survey worked, what the questions meant and how the data will improve safety and health in the Queensland mining industry.

Participation

All mines and quarries in Queensland were notified of the survey and were encouraged to provide time for workers to complete the survey during work hours. All workers from all mines and quarries in Queensland were encouraged to participate in the survey.

Privacy and confidentiality were paramount considerations when designing the survey. To ensure the privacy and confidentiality of respondents was protected:

• surveys were completed anonymously and no personally identifying data was collected
• the Commissioner is the sole owner and has complete control of the data
• all reports and analysis have been de-identified and reported in aggregate.

Understanding the opportunities to improve reporting will help the industry to continue to drive improvements in protecting the safety and health of workers in Queensland’s mining industries. The survey will provide a benchmark for the industry and can be used to gauge the success of its efforts to improve reporting.

The survey results have been compiled into a report (The state of safety reporting culture in Queensland’s mining industry) to continue to drive the conversation about safety reporting culture and how it can be improved.

The Commissioner for Resources Safety and Health is an independent advisor to the Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals. The Commissioner is independent of the regulator, Resources Safety and Health Queensland.

The Commissioner is the Chair of the Coal Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee and the Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee. Both advisory committees are tripartite, with members representing mine operators, mine workers (unions), and the regulator, and provide advice to the Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals on safety and health in the mining industry.

The privacy and confidentiality of respondents is of paramount importance and the survey was designed so that no personally identifying information would be collected.

During analysis, all provided surveys were inspected for any potentially identifying data and this data was expunged. Data was analysed and reported in aggregate.

The Commissioner for Resources Safety and Health has sole access to the data for the purposes of analysing responses of industry as a whole. Raw data will not be provided to industry, unions, or the regulator.

Everyone who worked at a coal mine, mineral mine, quarry or exploration site in Queensland during the survey period was encouraged to complete the survey. It was an opportunity for everyone to share their views on the state of safety reporting culture at their workplace.

The survey was not compulsory, but it was encouraged for all people who work in the mining industry to complete the survey to provide comprehensive data for analysis.

More than 7500 responses were received, which enabled an accurate picture of the safety reporting culture across the industry.

Coal mine workers had the option of identifying the mine site at which they work. For mineral mines and quarries, mines were not identified as some mines and quarries were too small to safely ensure the anonymity of workers participating in the survey.

Coal mine operators have the option of receiving de-identified results from their mine as long as the number of respondents who have chosen to identify their site is sufficient to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of individuals, and the reliability of results. The responses of those who choose not to identify the mine at which they work would not be included in this report.

The results of a mine will only be available to the mine operator (or operating entity) the data was collected from. However, the mine operator will not be able to request the raw data that is collected from their mine sites. The Commissioner treats all raw data as private and confidential.