New research highlights how contractor hiring for cost reduction creates safety risks in mining, prompting calls for stronger regulatory oversight.
There is an urgent need for governments and regulators to provide more effective oversight of contractor safety in the mining industry, said Michael Quinlan, Emeritus Professor in the School of Management and Governance at UNSW Business School.
In mining jurisdictions like Western Australia and Queensland, he said, there was clear evidence contractors were over-represented in mine fatalities.
“This may well help explain while the incidence/frequency of mine fatalities has not improved, at best, in the past decade or more,” said Prof. Quinlan.
He noted that in Queensland, the Mining and Energy Union was pressing for a more thorough investigation of mine fatalities and known risk factors to enhance mine safety.
Prof. Quinlan’s comments come off the back of new research exploring how traditional approaches to contractor management, focused primarily on cost reduction and operational flexibility, could create unforeseen risks and potentially catastrophic outcomes.
The study, ‘Contract labour in mining and occupational health and safety: A critical review‘, analysed decades of quantitative and qualitative research across multiple countries and industries.
Prof. Quinlan worked with University of Newcastle School of Health Sciences graduate Heather Jackson, whose PhD examined 51 serious mine incidents, to examine 120 publications, including peer-reviewed articles, government reports and theses, focusing on 65 key studies investigating safety outcomes in mining operations.
The research spanned developed and developing economies, focusing on Australia, South Africa, the United States, Turkey and various South American mining regions.
