Mining costs could be increased by almost 15 per cent if some recommendations from a Gallop Government initiated study into working hours were implemented, some of WA’s miners have warned.
The mining industry remains concerned about the study, which is expected to be released back to the Government by the middle of next year.
Chairman of Croesus Mining and exploration company De Grey Mining Ron Manners said the 15 per cent increase was based on initial figures factoring in the worst case scenario.
However, he said an increase of this magnitude would make a big difference to potential mining developments.
“If you are tossing up between doing something and not doing something then you would definitely stand back and ‘ask will I do it?’” Mr Manners said.
“It could be the difference,” LionOre managing director Mark Ashley said. “It reduces your reserve.”
The Extended Working Hours Review was initiated by the Gallop Government in 2003 and the review panel made up of key stakeholders reported its recommendations back to the Government in May this year.
The Government referred the recommendations to the Worksafe Commission and is now waiting for its recommendation.
Chamber of Minerals and Energy chief executive Tim Shanahan said the chamber, which is part of a Worksafe sub-committee currently looking at the study, had categorised parts of it as a risk to the industry.
He said the industry was most concerned about the prescriptive nature of some recommendations regarding consecutive shifts and hours of work, specifically a reduction of 12-hour shifts to eight-hour shifts.
Mr Shanahan said, if implemented, the recommendations had the potential to fundamentally alter many WA mining operations.
“We are working very to hard to convince the Government that flexible working hours are something that is essential to the industry and let the government know that there is a lot of contemporary thought and action going on in the industry in relation to issues such as fatigue,” he said.
However, Mr Shanahan said the Government did seem aware of the mining industry’s flexible working needs and that there were also some employee wage-related forces supporting the current working arrangements.
