Researchers warn of Pike River mine disaster potential repeat amid WorkSafe shake-up – The Front Page

A miner laying down flowers at the White Knight Bridge near the entrance to the Pike River mine. Photo / NZPA

A new study suggests another Pike River mine disaster is likely.

Victoria University of Wellington researchers say the failures that led to the disaster that killed 29 men could happen again at any other organisation.

One of their “potentially disturbing observations” is that health & safety training, auditors and well-qualified staff were insufficient to prevent failure. They may also have provided an “illusion of certainty” and overconfidence.

The research, released today in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, was led by Dr Richard Logan and considered the management thinking in the “incubation period” leading up to the disaster “with a focus on their uncertainty aversion, their unchallenged management narratives, their ‘failure of foresight’, and why these lessons are not unique to Pike River Coal Ltd, and why it poses a serious and mostly unrecognised risk for senior decision-making in complex organisations anywhere in the world”.

Health and safety practitioner Mike Cosman sat on the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health & Safety established after the Pike River disaster.

He told The Front Page that 15 years on, more could be done in the work health and safety space.

“It wasn’t the first disaster that we had in the mining industry. If we look internationally, we know that disasters have occurred in a whole variety of different sectors, ranging from adventure activities, chemical plants, mines, ferries and railways.

“The challenge for busy managers and directors is to say, is it worth investing in reducing the likelihood of this occurring when I’ve got more pressing problems that I have to deal with immediately?

“I think the Pike River case study shows that they were kicking the can down the road, hoping that things would come right, and that they would be able to generate revenue, get into better quality conditions, get the machinery working properly, get the team working cohesively, and that all of this would actually make things better,” he said.

The panel, appointed in 2012, brought about the first major review of workplace health and safety in 20 years. Its recommendations led to the Health and Safety (Pike River Implementation) Bill, which in turn created the WorkSafe New Zealand Act, the Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Act and a new Mines Rescue Act.

WorkSafe would begin operating at the end of 2013.

Now, 12 years later, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden has announced a shake-up of the regulator.

WorkSafe is being told to shed its “safety-at-all-costs mentality” and heavy-handed approach to punishment for a honed focus on managing critical risks and providing clear guidance for businesses.

Van Velden’s broader vision is for the agency to become a more “supportive regulator”, spanning prosecutions, a stronger approach when workers breach health and safety codes, and vastly clearer guidance for organisations.

Cosman said he has concerns about the potential to remove responsibility for company directors and boards for health and safety risks, as well as landowners, when it comes to recreational activities.

Saying he “isn’t a fan” of these proposed changes would be “putting it lightly”.

“At the moment, there are only proposals ... We had a Cabinet paper back in March. We’ve had another Cabinet paper in May. And obviously, the minister will need to bring forward more detailed proposals for legislative change through the select committee process.

“Removing director responsibilities, I think, is absolutely a mistake. Tone from the top is crucial. If directors aren’t fully committed to health and safety, then it’d be no surprise if managers, supervisors and frontline workers get the message that it’s all about production and safety is a nice to have, not a must have,” he said.

Cosman said that the policies don’t seem to be based on evidence to improve health and safety, and that the minister is in his opinion being “dogmatic” in her approach.

" What it needs is a much more nuanced approach. It isn’t a question of guidance or regulation. The two have to work hand in hand."

Listen to the full episode to hear more about what recommendations should have been prioritised, and why we shouldn’t get distracted by road cones.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

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