Health Improvement and Awareness Committee
A review of the Queensland Mines Inspectorate (QMI) in 2005 recommended that the QMI should have access, either internally or externally, to the necessary expertise to deal with organisational, occupational hygiene, ergonomics and other risks.
The Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, Mines and Energy recognise that a collaborative approach is the most effective means for managing health hazards across the mining industry. An initiative has therefore been taken to establish a tri-partite Committee to combine efforts to reduce health risks in mining.
The Queensland Mining Health Improvement and Awareness Committee (HIAC) has been established to assist industry anticipate, identify, evaluate and control health hazards in the mining environment.
Health and safety management efforts in mining have traditionally focused on the safety aspects. This is often because the outcomes of safety hazards are usually immediate and the consequences are visually graphic (eg. loss of limb, chemical burn). In most cases these hazards are well understood and easily recognised (For example, an unguarded drive motor on a conveyor, unsupported roof in a development heading or an unprotected opening on a platform).
In contrast, the outcomes of health hazards may be progressive and not realised until it is too late. The effects are not often visible and in some cases the hazard is not clearly understood and difficult to measure. The same vigour and effort that has always been dedicated to the pursuit and management of safety hazards needs to be devoted to managing health hazards in mining. HIAC aims to focus its efforts on health hazards in the mining industry. The committee will provide a forum to monitor emerging health issues and discuss those which are not clearly understood.
The Queensland Mining Health Improvement and Awareness Committee has been established to enable the inspectorate, unions and industry to work in unison to provide a greater emphasis on worker health and the prevention of illness and disease.
Strategic Plan - Queensland Mining Health Improvement and Awareness Committee
Committee Members
- Tim Whyte (Chair) - Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) representative
- Kevin Hedges (Committee Co-ordinator) - Mines and Energy
- Rob Carson - Australian Workers Union (AWU) representative
- Fritz Djukic - Mines and Energy
- Joanne Garrad - Queensland Coal Mining Industry representative
- Michael Holmes - Queensland Metal Mining Industry representative
- John McLean - Queensland Quarry Industry representative
- Liz Sanderson - Queensland Resources Council (QRC) representative
- Chris Skelding - Mines and Energy
- David Smith - Mines and Energy
- Gerard Tiernan (Communications) - Mines and Energy
- Trudy Tilbury - Mines and Energy
For more information on HIAC contact the Committee Coordinator Kevin Hedges kevin.hedges@dme.qld.gov.au
Queensland Mining Health Hazard Management
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