The second Sunday in September is a day of reflection for our Union and community, as we recognise the lives lost through the history of the Northern District coalfields.

2024 has been a sober reminder of the hazards we face in our workplaces. Our industry has seen a concerning number of near-misses and high potential incidents this year, any number of which could have easily resulted in a fatality. Safety is an ongoing effort and must be actively upheld, because in our industry complacency kills.

Like many throughout the coal industry I was shocked and saddened to learn of the deaths of two mineworkers at the same site in Queensland last month, killed in separate incidents less than three weeks apart. This has revealed a serious disfunction in the safety regime of the mine’s operator, QCoal, and the deadly consequences of any operator failing to live up to their responsibility to their workforce.

In response to these fatalities, our Union’s Queensland District has called on the state government to suspend QCoal’s mining lease until they prove they can be trusted to operate the site safely. I fully support this call. Any workplace fatality is cause for serious investigation – two in such a short period suggests something is rotten and intervention is necessary.

These tragedies highlight that workplace safety can never be taken for granted and that it is an ongoing struggle to uphold and improve standards. It is also a reminder of the deep human cost that is borne by the workers in our industry, taken prematurely not just through accidents at work, but on the roads surrounding their worksites, or through chronic health effects like black lung.

The lives lost in the coal industry will be in focus at the Northern District’s annual memorial service, to be held on Sunday, 8 September at the Jim Comerford Memorial Wall in Cessnock.

The wall bears the names of 1793 mineworkers who have been killed at work in the Northern District coalfields, charting the tragic history of the region and the immense human cost of the industry.

Each name on the wall tells an individual story of loss and despair, of loved ones taken from their families too soon and of workplaces forever altered through the loss of a workmate. The youngest name on the wall is nine-year-old William France, killed at Pacific Colliery and the eldest is 80-year-old William Howes, killed at Abermain Colliery.

The District’s annual Memorial Day at the wall is an event for the community to come together, remember our history and support grieving families. It is an opportunity to mourn as one and show our deep respect to those workers who never made it home at the end of the day.

However, the Memorial Day is also an opportunity to recognise the advocacy that has followed deaths in the coal industry. Each substantial improvement to safety conditions was won through the activism of the workers who put their lives at risk. It is critical to recognise that modern safety standards did not come cheaply but were paid for in the blood of our forebears and comrades from the earliest days of our industry to recent times.

From the Bellbird disaster over 100 years ago, our mines rescue service was born. From the 1996 Gretley tragedy, the NSW Government beefed up its prosecutions policy regarding mine disasters and undertook a major mine safety review that led to the establishment of the Mine Safety Advisory Council that operates today. We will never stop fighting for reforms to prevent more loss of life in the mining industry. 

Robin Williams

District President MEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy