In response, Andrew Little, national secretary of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), which represents coal miners, told New Zealand Television that the death highlights the need to return to the practice of government-appointed inspectors checking the safety of each mining shift. The practice was dropped about 15 years ago. Little said inspectors make sure all safety precautions are taken before miners start their shift.

One year ago the government leased the Black Reef Mine to a private company. Three people work the mine each shift. The Greymouth Evening Star reported that it is standard practice to test the area ahead by “forward drilling,” which should have revealed the presence of a body of water. According to the Evening Star, McGowan’s death was the sixth mining fatality on the job in the country’s West Coast since 1991.

The mine is adjacent to Solid Energy’s Spring Creek mine, which employs 130 workers and aims to extract 800,000 metric tons of coal a year.

“The biggest concern I have is companies and managers only have to refer to the Draft Code of Practices, which is a weak and watered down document, and the Mine Regulations Act,” Harold Gibbens, union site delegate at the Spring Creek Mine, told the Militant, referring to mine safety throughout New Zealand. “We are finding more and more companies and managers are writing their own policies to suit their own individual plans. We need to get back to our Check Inspectors. We need an independent union member in this role.”
 
 
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UMWA pursues organizing effort at Peabody coal mines nationwide  
 
 
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