A body representing hundreds of proponents urged resources employees to come forward.
The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) wants every mistreated mine worker to prove they were penalised for raising safety concerns.
“QRC continues to urge anyone with evidence to support these claims to contact the relevant company, union, Resources Safety and Health Queensland (RSHQ) or the QRC … people can also do this anonymously through the RSHQ inspector in their region,” a spokesperson said according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
However, RSHQ claimed it did not record the number of times staff experienced retaliation for complaints.
“We get complaints from time to time from industry and sometimes those contain elements of allegations of reprisal. All of the complaints that we receive are investigated, and we take action where we find issues are not as they should be,” mineral mines, quarries and explosives chief inspector Hermann Fasching said according to the broadcaster.
The remarks came after the State Transport and Resources Committee’s latest report found many individuals suffered a “significant personal cost” for coming forward with workplace concerns.
Industry veteran Scott Leggett revealed some of his former colleagues received a text message or phone call saying their services were no longer required within days of reporting unsafe conditions.
Leggett claimed his coworkers had to make a “financial decision” between reporting incidents or receiving cash, shopping vouchers, outdoor gear and other safety-related bonuses from their employer.
