Wayne Hanson Interviewed on 89.1am ABC Adelaide

Transcript of interview between Wayne Hanson, Branch Secretary (SA), Australian Workers Union and Matthew Abraham and David Bevan on  (891ABC 11.25-11.32) Concern regarding the failure of haulage equipment at Olympic Dam.

Bevan: Wayne Hanson, how many members do you have up at Roxby?

Wayne: I’m reluctant to say, the people who are members of our union are what we term ‘closet members’ and they choose to be so principally because they would prefer that management at Roxby Downs don’t know that they’re union members. We have members at the rock face, as the term goes, who we rely upon for accurate intelligence from time to time.

I took a call this morning that brought me up to speed. The intelligence that I recieved this morning went to the extent that the equipment that has malfunctioned was designed originally to accommodate between six and seven million tonnes per annum. The company, in its wisdom, decided to crank that up to a capacity of around 10 million tonnes per annum. Now, when they did this they were advised by the designers of the equipment that this would result in premature wear and tear of that equipment and eventually it would break down. Of course hello, hello, what’s happened? The equipment has failed and there’s been pretty close to a disaster that may have occurred.

Abraham: It’s a haulage system, this is the stuff that hauls the rock up from a long way down.

Wayne: Yes, there is a haulage system which picks up the crushed ore and takes it up to the surface and then once it is there then it’s processed and reduced to concentrates and then refined.

Bevan: Your information is the company’s decided to increase the amount of ore transported on this system by about 50% per year.

Wayne: The intelligence that I’ve had is the company has already ramped up its tonnage on equipment that was designed to accommodate six to seven million tonne per annum to the capacity that they’re currently running at … 10 million tonnes per annum.

Bevan: Is it just they’re using it more often or they’re putting more stuff in the bucket?

Wayne: That is an interesting question. I would expect that a bucket would be designed to accommodate a certain tonnage, I think that it would be more related to the frequency of the equipment being used rather than excessive tonnage. But that is only a guess on my part.

Abraham: And have you been told how far this equipment fell? We understand it plunged to the bottom of the shaft.

Wayne: My understanding is it was between … 600 and 700 metres. That’s a long way to fall.

Abraham: When you say it could have been a catastrophe … was it in the proximity of where people work or not?

Wayne: Well, I would expect that people would be in the vicinity of this equipment. I mean I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it, people should be given a gold medal for working down there anyway.

Bevan: I have been down a portion of the Roxby mine … it’s a pretty interesting place … what does the union want?

Wayne: We want a government that is prepared to stand up to mining companys. I can give you examples; I’m currently on an occupational health and safety committee called the Mining and Quarrying Occupational Health and Safety Committee. On more than one occasion the committee and indeed the Australian Workers Union has invited the mining industry to participate in research programs. And in all instances when those invitations have been issued to the mining industry they’ve declined with the response of  ‘We are quite satisfied with the occupational health and safety procedures that we have in place. We do not require the assistance of a third party’. I think it’s time that the Government stepped in and started saying to companies like BHP Billiton that you will toe the line, that you will ensure that you operate under more stringent safety standards.

Bevan: And when you say the Government you mean the State Government?

Wayne: Yes, the State Government. It’s the State Government’s responsibility. It appears to me that, you know, six months from an election you’ve got a State Government that’s not prepared to stand up to the mining industry, particularly BHP Billiton they’re a company that are so powerful it doesn’t even need a bank, they’re a company that is raping our resources to the extent – I mean when you talk in terms of bang for a buck ...

Abraham: Well, they’re employing you members.

Wayne: ...3.5% in royalties in South Australia. In Western Australia it’s … 7.5% and in Queensland it’s 10%. I mean these resources, they don’t belong to BHP, they belong to the people of South Australia and we’re entitled to get a bigger bang for our buck and under this present circumstances we’re not getting it.

Abraham: Wayne Hanson, thank you. We have asked, and obviously there’s a standing invitation to, BHP Billiton to come on and answer questions and provide some more information from their perspective. They have declined at this stage.