NSW:Gretley first time anybody convicted for coal deaths - union

AAP General News (Australia)
08-09-2004
NSW:Gretley first time anybody convicted for coal deaths - union

The mining union says today's judgement on the Gretley coal mine disaster is the first
time in the 200-year history of the NSW coal industry that anybody's been convicted for
loss of life.

That's despite more than 3,000 miners being killed in the state's collieries.

The owners and operators of the mine in the Hunter Valley have been found guilty of
safety breaches that led to the deaths of four workers in the Gretley mine disaster in
November 1996.

The four miners drowned 150 metres underground after they drilled into a flooded shaft.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy union's TONY MAHER says the judgement
in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission will be a relief for the families of the miners
who were killed.

He says the judgement comes at an important time as unions fight for industrial manslaughter
laws to be introduced.

And he says the convictions should serve as a warning to all mining companies and individuals
responsible for health and safety in the coal industry that they will now be held to account.





Sentences against the companies and individuals will be handed down at a later date.

AAP RTV evt/smb/drp/rp

KEYWORD: GRETLEY (SYDNEY)

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