❓ A WA parliamentary question on notice regarding the reporting of fires and significant incidents at mine sites, specifically referencing incidents at the Super Pit. The response reveals a lack of prosecutions for failure to report such incidents.
AnsweredQoN 3253Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to a newspaper article titled ‘Ausdrill Super Pit fire unreported’, which appeared in the
Kalgoorlie Miner
on Wednesday 1 December 2010 and an incident which occurred at the Super pit operations owned by Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining, a newspaper article titled ‘Penalty too Low, KCGM’s fine fails to match, consequence, action’, which appeared in the
Kalgoorlie Miner
on Tuesday 28 September 2010, and ask -
(1) Does the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) support the non-reporting of fires and significant incidents at all mines sites within Western Australia?
(2) If no to (1), why not?
(3) What is the penalty under the
Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994
and
Regulations 1995
for a company and a individual failing to report a fire or significant incident to the DMP?
(4) Will KCGM or Ausdrill as a company, or individuals, involved be prosecuted for the incident referred to above in the newspaper article dated 1 December 2010 by the DMP to send a clear message that it is completely unacceptable for a company or individual to not report a fire or significant incidents to the DMP?
(5) If no to (4), why not?
(6) Can the Minister explain why the DMP will not prosecute KCGM or Ausdrill for the failure to report a fire given there has been a number of deaths at this mine referred to in the newspaper article dated 28 September 2010 to send a clear message to the mining industry that the failure to report a fire or significant incident to the DMP is regarded as a extremely serious matter?
(7) If no to (6), why not?
(8) Can the Minister table and explain with a brief explanation all incidents, including the name and operator of the mine of all the incidents within the last three years for all mines within Western Australia, which have been brought to the attention of the DMP, but have never been reported as required by the legislation?
(9) If no to (8), why not?
(10) Can the Minister explain what is the specific purpose of requiring companies or individuals to report fires and significant incidents to the DMP as a legal requirement given it is widely known by certain companies that it is an accepted practice which will have little consequence in terms of receiving a prosecution from the DMP?
(11) If no to (10), why not?
(12) Can the Minister provide specific details including names, mine sites of how many companies and individuals have been prosecuted by the DMP within the last 6 years for a failure to report significant incidents or fires at all mines within Western Australia to the DMP?
(13) If no to (12), why not?
Kalgoorlie Miner
on Wednesday 1 December 2010 and an incident which occurred at the Super pit operations owned by Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining, a newspaper article titled ‘Penalty too Low, KCGM’s fine fails to match, consequence, action’, which appeared in the
Kalgoorlie Miner
on Tuesday 28 September 2010, and ask -
(1) Does the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) support the non-reporting of fires and significant incidents at all mines sites within Western Australia?
(2) If no to (1), why not?
(3) What is the penalty under the
Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994
and
Regulations 1995
for a company and a individual failing to report a fire or significant incident to the DMP?
(4) Will KCGM or Ausdrill as a company, or individuals, involved be prosecuted for the incident referred to above in the newspaper article dated 1 December 2010 by the DMP to send a clear message that it is completely unacceptable for a company or individual to not report a fire or significant incidents to the DMP?
(5) If no to (4), why not?
(6) Can the Minister explain why the DMP will not prosecute KCGM or Ausdrill for the failure to report a fire given there has been a number of deaths at this mine referred to in the newspaper article dated 28 September 2010 to send a clear message to the mining industry that the failure to report a fire or significant incident to the DMP is regarded as a extremely serious matter?
(7) If no to (6), why not?
(8) Can the Minister table and explain with a brief explanation all incidents, including the name and operator of the mine of all the incidents within the last three years for all mines within Western Australia, which have been brought to the attention of the DMP, but have never been reported as required by the legislation?
(9) If no to (8), why not?
(10) Can the Minister explain what is the specific purpose of requiring companies or individuals to report fires and significant incidents to the DMP as a legal requirement given it is widely known by certain companies that it is an accepted practice which will have little consequence in terms of receiving a prosecution from the DMP?
(11) If no to (10), why not?
(12) Can the Minister provide specific details including names, mine sites of how many companies and individuals have been prosecuted by the DMP within the last 6 years for a failure to report significant incidents or fires at all mines within Western Australia to the DMP?
(13) If no to (12), why not?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
14 February 2011
Responded by
Minister for Mines and Petroleum
Response time
74 days
(1) No
(2) The reporting of such events is a requirement under law in this State.
(3) Level penalty 1 as per Section 4A of the
Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994
which states -
"
(1) Where a person is liable to a level one penalty for an offence against this Act the person is liable -
(a) if the offence was committed by the person as an employee -
(i) for a first offence, to a fine of $5,000 and
(ii) for a subsequent offence, to a fine of $6,250.
(b) (ii) in the case of a corporation -
(i) for a first offence, to a fine of $50,000 and
(ii) for a subsequent offence, to a fine of $62,000"
(4) No
(5) This was a minor fire related to an incident in a workshop. The principal employer did report the incident upon becoming aware of it.
(6) Refer to Answer 5
(7) Not applicable
(8) No
(9) Statistics of this nature are not compiled by the Inspectorate.
(10) The specific purpose of requiring companies or individuals to report fires and significant incidents to the DMP as a legal requirement is to ensure that trends for such occurrences can be mapped and appropriate prevention action taken before more serious consequences occur.
(11) Not applicable
(12) No such prosecutions have been undertaken in the past six years.
(13) Not applicable
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(2) The reporting of such events is a requirement under law in this State.
(3) Level penalty 1 as per Section 4A of the
Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994
which states -
"
(1) Where a person is liable to a level one penalty for an offence against this Act the person is liable -
(a) if the offence was committed by the person as an employee -
(i) for a first offence, to a fine of $5,000 and
(ii) for a subsequent offence, to a fine of $6,250.
(b) (ii) in the case of a corporation -
(i) for a first offence, to a fine of $50,000 and
(ii) for a subsequent offence, to a fine of $62,000"
(4) No
(5) This was a minor fire related to an incident in a workshop. The principal employer did report the incident upon becoming aware of it.
(6) Refer to Answer 5
(7) Not applicable
(8) No
(9) Statistics of this nature are not compiled by the Inspectorate.
(10) The specific purpose of requiring companies or individuals to report fires and significant incidents to the DMP as a legal requirement is to ensure that trends for such occurrences can be mapped and appropriate prevention action taken before more serious consequences occur.
(11) Not applicable
(12) No such prosecutions have been undertaken in the past six years.
(13) Not applicable
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
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