On Sunday 14 September, our community will gather at the Jim Comerford Memorial Wall in Cessnock for our annual Memorial Day event. It’s a solemn day, one that binds generations of mineworkers, families and towns across the coalfields. The Wall now bears 1793 names of people who lost their lives connected to work in the Northern District coalfields.
This year, we add the name of Craig Hugo, a miner whose loss reminds us why this memorial exists and why our fight for safer mines can never let up.
It is always a tragic occasion to add a name to the wall – and the memorial event helps us share our grief and support each other. It is a time for reflection and for solidarity. Loved ones and workmates lay wreaths and swap stories. But it is also a day of commitment and accountability. Every life inscribed on that Wall represents a terrible loss and we recommit ourselves to ensuring that no more names are carved into stone.
That requires us to respond to current and emerging safety challenges. A particular challenge demanding urgent attention across our sites is adverse vehicle interactions – the collisions, and near misses that occur when heavy plant and light vehicles share space and workers operating under fatigue, distraction or perceived pressure to “push through”.
The trend in this area has not improved enough, and it’s a reminder that safety is not about ticking boxes; it’s about building systems from the top down so workers aren’t left carrying the risk alone. As a result, the NSW Resources Regulator in consultation with industry stakeholders has produced a Technical Reference Guide to help in minimising adverse vehicle interactions to keep workers safe, and we’ll be working to make sure it is implemented fully and effectively.
When we separate people from hazards, build clear and enforceable traffic rules, and back them with smart engineering and reliable technology, we can reduce the chance that a moment’s error becomes a tragedy.
As a Union, we will continue to press for practical changes on every site to keep workers safe.
We also reaffirm the vital role of our Industry Safety and Health Representatives (ISHR) and Mine Safety and Health Representatives (MSHR). The ISHR’s independence and statutory powers exist for a reason: workers need a voice with the authority to inspect, intervene and, when necessary, stop the job.
On Memorial Day, we honour those who didn’t make it home. We support their families. And we recommit to the living – to every worker who climbs into a truck cab at dawn, every fitter stepping into a workshop, every operator entering a pit.
The Jim Comerford Wall should be a record of the past. Let’s make that our measure: a culture that protects workers before productivity so we add no more names. Reflection must lead to change – because the most powerful way to honour those on the Wall is to ensure no one else is added.
Robin Williams
District President MEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy
| MEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District 28th Annual Memorial Day Service 10.30am, Sunday 14 September 2025 Jim Comerford Memorial Wall, 67a Aberdare Road Cessnock ALL WELCOME |
