Document vy6kG21V6aRnMnoEo8exy46oR

FILE NAME Colonial Sugar Refinery CSR DATE 1958 April 3 DOC CSR128 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Govt Memo RE Dust Nuisance - Wittenoom Milling Plant 83303795 3803303795 30 GOVERNMENT OF WESTERN AUSTRALA Memorandum MINES DEPARTMENT The Senior Inspector of Mines _-_ Cue 3rd April 1958 In accordance with your instructions I visited Wittenoom on Tuesday 25th Karch milling attempt In an to eliminate the possibility of the conditions conditions being dressed for my arrival as stated by the Union Representative who lodged the complaint I asked the Airline agent not to book the flight in my name This was done and there should have been no reason for the visit to have been predicted intake With Inspector Hunt I inspected the milling section within an hour of my arrival and we both agreed that conditions were particul- arly good It was the first occasion I have been in the mill when it was operating and seen a really clear atmosphere There were ofcourse several points from which dust was being emitted emitted one was the result of a ventilation hood having been left off after maintenance and I noted one or two points which should have been equipped with hoods but had none I also noticed that some of the flues for collection of dust were too far removed from the created concentrat ions of dust to effectively remove it before it could pollute the Hanager Li111- I later discussed my inspection with the Superintendent both of whom had been made aware that my visit was the instuction and had originated through a complaint source of your which they could not be told Their guesses as to the origin of the complaint were probably perfectly correct but no indication was given br me Mr.Thomas stated that he was not happy about the inspection arising through a complaint becmaautsteerhsercaliasiemdebdytheamtplhoeyeweas s Wahteanllaske~ times prepared to investigate to see it so how I found the Mill I told them that I was surprised good and asked them if it could be maintained that wey I was assured that it definitely could I pointed out that no complaint would have been lodged if the claim Mill was kept in the condition in which I saw it this ed that they have an agreement whereby certain workers are paid dust money if the collection unit fails and they have to work in excess- ively dusty conditions Recently they experienced considerable ti plant with the collection and agreed that conditions were poor ar paid penalty rates accordingly However in an attempt to locate cause of the poor performance of the unit they discovered that a governor damper had been forcibly bent from its set and welded pc governor and this completely ruined the balancien othfetmheilulnpiutrpTohseeilry cdlasn was that an individual or individuals receive the unit so as to penalty rates I did not make much com during this discussion as I was prepared to lend a sympathetic e to both parties and try and establish who was giving me the more correct version Later that afternoon I was introduced to Mr Reen who sent in the complaint Reen impressed me being a very solid type and PLAINTIFF'S man who would not make frivolous statements He told me that the EXHIBIT mill conditions as I saw them were in no way comparable with the normal conditions and stated that although he was baffled as to how est my arrival could have been anticipated was positive that the Peer ry 97 previous day's maintenace to the dust unit was in preparation for sy inspection He also alleged that as soon as I entered the mill e temporary break was staged so as to minimise the quantity of ore in the circuit at that time A hold up did occur Pegarding his own efforts to have the trouble rectified domestically Reen alleged that the maganement were the best team of listeners he had ever encountere end that unfulfilled promises were his main results We were then joined by another Rep named John A.Fletcher who handed me a letter a copy of which is attached Fletcher is not nearly as reliable as Reen and he made several weak statements which I viscounted immediate- 15. Fletcher wanted me to make another inspection that evening because he was sure that conditions would again be unsatisfactory I told him I would conduct the investigation in my own manner and had decided inspection person that if I were to make a snap inspection no intention to do so person would know m of y workings The following morning I inspected the underground workings and apart from the need to brattice off some old to gain a bettes flow all other matters were satisfactory Before I returned to write up my findings I gave the matter considerable thought If Reen was substantially correct in his state- ment regarding the false conditions seen by me then it would be cost probable that I would never see the true picture that visit Hold could easily be staged To make a surprise Inspection on me The management because they do in practice occur quite often would probably result in the joke being knew that I was booked to leave on Thursday's plane and if they were keeping things in order for my benefit they only had another 20 hours to go before the pressure was off For this reason they would possibly have welcomed a surprise visit To me it appeared best to tackle the problem on their ground If I had seen window dressed conditions then they had created a stendr^' stan which would suit the workers and of their own admission a ur - which could be maintained I decided to try and tie them down to a set of conditions which may or may not have been specially prepared The entry for the Record Book was discussed with Inspector Hunt and then typed I purposely omitted Inspector Hunt from the signing of the report because as I explained to him he won't won't have to qualify any of the findings if questioned after my departure He only has to see that attention is paid to the points raised by me and therefore can - keep clear of any k criticism which may be levelled by either party We returned to the mine and I handed the report to the manager After having read it he indicated his general agreement but wanted m paragraphs to delete 5 and 7. Kumber 5 was in his opinion a slight on the Hill Superintendent because he had already informed me that ur Allen was responsible for the dust collection unit I pointed out ths . there was no intended slight on Mr. Allen who as Superintendent wes sutomatically responsible for the unit However on the previous day when I asked who looked after the unit I was told that Allen the it Engineer and the fitting shop foremen all kept their eye on it I wanted to be the particular responsibility of one person and pare 5 remained . Thomas pointed out that they already had an agreement regarding the payment of penalty rates and para 7 should be omitted I expressed my revulsion at a Board of Reference agreeing to pay penalties in lieu of adequate working conditions and pointed out that despite the findings of that Board an Act of Parliament takes precedence over an Award and I would not permit men to work in unhealthy conditions even if the management were prepared to pay extra uages or the men willing to undertake the task Paragraph 7 remained also This was one of the most unsavoury duties I have had to perform and it has arisen because of the small town atmosphere ever present at ittenoom Personally I am inclined to agree with Rep Feen I have always conscious of : managerial attitude of resentment when ever they are asked to attend to some matter relating to operations commit for which they already have some person responsible Even if the complaint is justified and some person neglectful they are commit al and prefer to delay any action for as long as pessible just to indicate that they were not forced into immediate action This attitude was evident on this letest occasion I sus estec that a modified flue mouth would permit the intakes to be brought closer to the screens etc and not result in loss of fibre also suggested that a canvas hood could easily be fitted to those sections of the mill where metal hoods cannot Be installed because of the rele ive movement between the parts which permit dust to escape Such a canvas hood could be secured along the edges with light metal strips which would provide for speedy removal and assembly during winter application pointed ance Although the Manager he out agreed that the suggestions had sound that the manufacturers of the collection unit would have to be notified if modifications were necessary This again was more of a stalling tactic than a necessity I wanted actic regardless of who paid for the modifications and said so I believe that the existing unit could maintain satisfactory conditions but the mill supervisors have got to be shaken out of the past apparent attitude of indifference which has grown on them because of experience in not being able to control the dust I considered it little credit to the supervisory staff of the mill that they could permit conditions to deteriorate through such minor matters es that of ensuring that a hood was replaced.after replaced.after maintenance Although my report was compiled before I revisited the mill an prior to seeing the Manager the conditions were entirely different ar far from satisfactory on the Wednesday when I made second inspection In view of the assurance I had been given the previous day the manage ment were rather embarrassed and had to agree when I pointed out that alrer practically all of the trouble could be readily overcome I had covered theso eventualities in my report so there was no need to alte I do not know what the ection of the employees will be I told Reen that I felt that I covered the question satisfactorily from his point of view but would not discuss the contents of my report wit him It would have to be put up on the notice and I had no wish to have the contents of my report to the manager discussed around tor before the manager had time to publish it as required I trust that everyone will now be contented and that one will develop heartburn through my vidit On this occasion I felt that stimng support had to be given to every justifiable Union complaint because such an attitu~ may result in future problems being resolved domestically ---->---->--,------- ----,----- 1ISTRICT 1SPECTOR OF WINES CUZ