Health and Safety (Pike River Implementation) Bill – Third Reading Speech

Mr Speaker, I move that the WorkSafe New Zealand Bill, the Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Bill (No 3), and the Mines Rescue Bill be now read a third time.

It gives me great satisfaction to support these Bills at third reading.

Following the release of the report of the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy in 2012, this Government committed to implementing the Royal Commission’s 16 recommendations by the end of 2013.

By establishing WorkSafe New Zealand, strengthening worker participation arrangements in the mining industry, ensuring that the Mines Rescue Service is adequately funded and supported by legislation, and paving the way for a new set of mining health and safety regulations, these Bills fulfil key elements of that commitment.

Both the Royal Commission and the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety recommended that a new regulator be established in the form of a Crown Agent. A stand-alone agency, sufficiently resourced, and with an executive board with a wide range of skills and experience, will have the necessary focus to help reduce New Zealand’s high rates of fatalities and serious injuries in the workplace.

But just creating a new agency is not enough on its own. The establishment of WorkSafe New Zealand is just one aspect of the most significant reforms to the workplace health and safety system in a generation. As I announced recently, this Government intends to introduce a replacement for the Health and Safety in Employment Act, which is now over 20 years old. The new legislation will be supported by a full spectrum of regulations, approved codes of practice and other guidance material in support of the primary legislation.

This was one of the areas that drew particular criticism from the Royal Commission in relation to mining. The Commission identified that there was a lack of supporting material sitting beneath the Health and Safety in Employment Act, so while duty holders knew what they had to comply with, they had no guidance as to how to comply. And in the high hazard industry of coal mining, this fact, among others, led to the tragedy at Pike River.

The Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Bill (No 3) will pave the way for a new set of mining health and safety regulations as recommended by the Royal Commission. These regulations, among other things, will set out the processes that must be followed and the minimum standards that must be met to safely manage the hazards that can cause catastrophic failure of the kind seen at Pike River. Mine operators will be required to develop detailed hazard management plans to demonstrate how they will meet these requirements.

These regulations will bring regulation of mining health and safety in New Zealand in line with international best practice. And I would like to express my appreciation to both the Expert Reference Group who have been advising officials, and the industry stakeholders who have engaged in a productive and open manner throughout the development of these regulations.

The Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Bill (No 3) also responds to another recommendation of the Royal Commission by significantly strengthening worker participation arrangements in the mining industry. The provisions of this Bill will ensure that all mine workers at a mining operation, including contractors, subcontractors and labour hire workers, will be covered by these arrangements.

Health and safety representatives will be supported by a range of statutory functions and powers, and those who have undertaken prescribed training will be able to carry out inspections and suspend operations if there is an imminent risk of serious harm.

In the underground coal mining sector, which has seen the vast majority of the fatalities in mining in the last 60 years, these strengthened provisions will be further supported by the appointment of industry health and safety representatives who will provide, in the Royal Commission’s words “an extra set of eyes and ears”.

The Mines Rescue Bill responds to the recommendation of the Royal Commission concerning the Mines Rescue Service. The Bill clearly sets out the functions of the service in the legislation, and provides that the levy to fund the service can be set through regulations. These changes will ensure that this vital service is sufficiently resourced to assist mine operators with their emergency preparedness and to respond to emergencies and other incidents when required.

This Bill also provides statutory support to the role of the incident controller in a major underground mining emergency. This is a key role in the interagency protocol that has been developed in response to another of the Royal Commission’s recommendations. The incident controller will lead the decision-making at the mine site during an emergency, and this legislation will ensure that he or she can effectively carry out this important task.

Mr Speaker, it is our duty to the 29 workers who died, and their families, to oversee the implementation of the Royal Commission’s recommendations. It is also a duty we owe to all current and future workers in the mining industry in New Zealand.

These Bills implement several key recommendations of the Royal Commission, and I commend them to the House.