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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-06-30 Daily Xml
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OLYMPIC DAM

The Hon. M. PARNELL (15:05): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations, representing the Minister for Environment and Conservation, a question about radiation exposure of workers at Olympic Dam.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: I received an email recently from a person who worked as a subcontractor underground at the Olympic Dam mine. In his email to me, this worker says:

I was aware of radiation monitoring equipment that other staff were issued but for the 13 months that I worked there I was not issued with one. I never questioned the reason why but after I had finished working there I discovered that I should have in fact been issued with one. It was when I was applying for another mining job that in the application it asked about previous radiation exposure and the levels. I can't remember who I spoke to, I think a friend who used to work at Olympic Dam, but I found out that all underground employees should have been issued with this monitoring device.

I then asked SafeWork SA about this. They said it had nothing to do with them and referred me to the EPA. I found it interesting that SafeWork SA didn't have any control over this as it is effectively a safety item. The EPA advised me that I should have been issued one. The EPA followed it up with BHP Billiton and after a couple of weeks, I received a report in the mail showing my exposure levels. I thought it was interesting as I wasn't issued with a monitoring device, and there were no accurate records kept of my time underground, so the information supplied could not have been accurate.

I am happy to speak with you further on this if it helps you with your push to make the companies up there more accountable for the safety of the employees.

I spoke to this worker this morning, and he has agreed that I can pass on his name and contact details to the minister to assist in verifying his particular account. However, the issues raised are of general concern and may relate to other workers. My questions are:

1. Can the minister confirm that all underground workers at the Olympic Dam mine, whether employed by BHP Billiton or subcontractors, are required to be issued with radiation monitoring devices?

2. If that is the case, how does the EPA verify and enforce this requirement?

3. Is it the EPA's practice to issue radiation exposure reports to workers, based on information other than personal radiation monitoring devices. If so, on what basis are such reports issued?

4. How are radiation levels monitored and reported to the EPA and how does the EPA verify the completeness and accuracy of these reports?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (15:08): I thank the honourable member for his important questions. I will refer his questions to the Minister for Environment and Conservation in another place and bring back a response.

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