{"id":160519,"date":"2016-10-12T18:15:17","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T08:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=160519"},"modified":"2020-10-02T13:27:49","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T03:27:49","slug":"union-issues-black-lung-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/10\/12\/union-issues-black-lung-warning\/","title":{"rendered":"Union Issues Black Lung Warning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
BHP Billiton’s open cut Goonyella Riverside coal mine (Photo: BHP Billiton)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

October 12, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

A union has issued a warning to coal mining communities after confirmation of Australia\u2019s first case of Black Lung disease in an open cut coal mine worker.<\/p>\n

Miner Paul Head, from BHP Billiton\u2019s Goonyella Riverside Mine in the Bowen Basin, has worked in the industry for 31 years, but never underground.<\/p>\n

CFMEU Mining and Energy Division Queensland District president Stephen Smyth said workers and communities in all States and Territories with underground and open-cut coal mines were now “clearly at risk”.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a myth that miners working in open cut mines are not exposed to high levels of coal dust or at risk of developing irreversible and fatal Black Lung and other dust-related diseases,\u201d Mr Smyth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo far, industry and governments have been assuming this problem is isolated to underground mines; we now know this is a false assumption.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe union is again urging mining companies to immediately address dust levels in all coalmines and keep dust levels below legal limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

The emergence of a confirmed case of Black Lung in an Australian open cut mine follows a 2012 study of surface coal miners in the US found that revealed 1-in-50 workers in surface coalmines had developed coal workers\u2019 pneumoconiosis, or Black Lung.<\/p>\n

Mr Smyth said that due to the similarities between the United States and Australian mining, it was estimated this figure would be comparable in Australia, if not higher.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe current legal dust exposure limits in Queensland are insufficient and are also not being appropriately monitored to prevent excess dust exposure,” Mr Smyth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMining companies in Queensland have allowed dust levels in the mines to spike often well above these legal limits with no regard for the health of the miners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese operations must immediately start using more effective dust monitoring and control methods to reduce this deadly health risk and at the very least to comply with legal permissible levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis should put all governments on notice \u2013 Black Lung disease is not just a threat to coal miners working in underground mines in Queensland, but to miners at all coal mines across Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis also underlines the importance of an industry levy to support a victims\u2019 fund given the national significance of the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A union has issued a warning to coal mining communities after confirmation of Australia\u2019s first case of Black Lung disease in an open cut coal mine worker. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":160530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,172,3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnion Issues Black Lung Warning - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A union has issued a warning to coal mining communities after confirmation of Australia\u2019s first case of Black Lung disease in an open cut coal mine worker.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/10\/12\/union-issues-black-lung-warning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Union Issues Black Lung Warning - 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