Joint Coal Board

Support was provided under the National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration Program (NERDDP). T.P. Maher of the Joint Coal Board provided coal specimens and expert advice. P.J. Redllch (Monash University) supplied brown coals and extracted residues. Maceral concentrates were provided by N. Lockhart, C. Davies, M. Shlbaoka, N. Ng and A. Cook. N. Thomas and Z. Lauks performed most of the thermal analysis experiments. 

At this point the nature and significance of the regulatory regime needs to be addressed. There are two quite separate bodies concerned with coal mine health and safety in New South Wales. One is the coal mines inspectorate, located within the Department of Mineral Resources, responsible for the enforcement of the Coal Mines Regulation Act. The other is the Joint Coal Board which, among other things, is responsible for workers compensation... 

The regulation of coal mine health and safety provides what would appear to be an ideal model. The Joint Coal Board, through its workers compensation insurance company, is focussed on reducing compensation costs. This approach can be expected to have some impact on routine lost-time injuries. On the other hand, the coal mines inspectorate s job is to protect workers from serious hazards, regardless of whether these hazards represent a significant cost to the industry. This institutional division of labour is in the best interests of all concerned. 

Various commentators are now arguing that management attention to health and safety pays off in terms of higher productivity and hence profit (e.g. Oxenburgh 1991 Mathews 1993). The coal rniriing industry is cited in support of these claims, in part because of the very good data available from the Joint Coal Board (Mathews 1993, p. 49 Ore 1992, p. 8 Worksafe Australia Newsletter, vol. 7, no. 4 p. 4 no. 5 p. 2). 

It seems likely that the downward trend evident since the mid-1980s is to a considerable extent attributable to improved injury management, of the type described at Eastern Colliery. The Joint Coal Board has conducted seminars for colliery managers on how to reduce claims costs, and it is well known in the industry that some of the best LTIFRs have been achieved by strenuous efforts to keep the injured at work, on alternative duties if necessary. Joint Coal Board data provide evidence of the extent of this process. Between 1981 and 1992 the proportion of claims which resulted in lost time fell from 86 per cent to 56 per cent Ooint Coal Board 1992, p. 6). What this means is that, whereas in 1981 the great majority... 

In its simplest case it involves extremely creative approaches to rehabilitation that bring new meaning to the term walking wounded . In the most extreme case it may involve a company in effect acting as a self insurer in order to hide injuries from the Joint Coal Board workers compensation system and the statistics that come from it. 

There is one other set of data which it is sometimes suggested demonstrates a relationship between productivity and safety in coal mining (Emmett 1992, p. 306 Mathews 1993, p- 49). If, for any one year, the productivity of each mine is plotted against its LTIFR, a correlation is apparent (see Figure 10.5) the more productive mines tend to have lower LTlFRs. (Data taken from NSW Department of Mineral Resources 1994, pp. 213-14 and Joint Coal Board 1993, pp-10-12.)... 

Joint Coal Board 1981, Annual Report, JCB Sydney... 

The Hixborough chemical plant produced caprolactam, which is in turn used to manufacture nylon. The process used six large pressurized reactors containing cyclohexane. (Cyclohexane is comparable to gasoline it is allquid at ambient conditions, but vaporizes easily and is highly flammable.) The plant was located on the east coast of England it had been in operation since the year 1967 and was operated by Nypro (a joint venture between Dutch State Mines and the British National Coal Board). 

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