Pike River Coal Mine
High Hazards Unit
17 August 2011
The Minister of Labour today announced the formation of a specialist High Hazards Unit within the Department of Labour. Read the Minister's statement.
The Unit will expand and improve our capability and capacity to operate effectively in the high hazards sector - mining and petroleum/geothermal.
The material supporting the Department's decision to form the unit, and the Government's decision to fund it are listed below:
- Review of the Department of Labour's interactions with Pike River Coal Limited
- Practical proposals for improving the Department of Labour’s approach to high hazard industries
- Cabinet paper: Improving Health and Safety in High Hazard Industries
Department of Labour Pike River investigation
The Department of Labour has begun an investigation into the tragedy at Pike River Coal mine.
- The investigation will be carried out under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992
- It will be one of the larger investigations the Department of Labour has undertaken
- We will be trying to find out what led to the accident, whether anything could have been done to prevent it and what steps could be taken to prevent a similar incident in the future.