QRC CEO Ian Macfarlane
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has raised concerns about the Queensland government’s proposed changes to workplace health and safety legislation, saying on Wednesday that it would have the perverse outcome of reducing safety.
The state government earlier introduced legislative changes to create a new offence of industrial manslaughter in Queensland. Under the proposed laws, the maximum penalty for industrial manslaughter will be 20 years imprisonment for an individual, with a maximum fine of A$10-million for a corporate offender.
The QRC on Wednesday said that the state government was pushing expanded industrial manslaughter laws through the Parliament, with virtually no scrutiny and no consultation.
QRC CEO Ian Macfarlane noted that while the government had flagged earlier this year that it would be introducing a bill relating to industrial manslaughter, but at the eleventh hour it has added sweeping amendments that also apply to the resources industry.
“There has been no consultation and no proper Parliamentary or industry scrutiny of the impacts and possible unintended consequences of these changes to the resources sector,” Macfarlane said.
“The legislation relating to the resources sector is detailed and complex. It’s not as simple as one-size-fits-all.”