An audit report's finding of no imminent danger at New Zealand coal mines is "complete nonsense", according to the union that represents miners.
The audit by two Australian mining experts was ordered by Cabinet after 29 men were killed in explosions at the Pike River mine on the West Coast in November last year.
The report, issued today, found two mines were not fully compliant with health and safety regulations, but found no evidence of imminent danger at any of the four mines investigated.
Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson said the audit did not find mines were being operated in an unsafe manner, and the lack of imminent danger was reassuring.
"However, underground coal mining is inherently dangerous and the hazards cannot be entirely eliminated, so systems and processes to minimise harm must be in place," she said.
Andrew Little, national secretary of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union that represents miners, said it was "complete nonsense" that there was no imminent danger at the mines.
He pointed to the audit's recommendation that the Roa mine install a gas monitoring system.
"For heaven's sake, what lay at the heart of Pike River was a gas explosion. The one thing you expect in an underground coal mine is a gas monitoring system," he told Radio New Zealand.
Mr Little said New Zealand had a "hands-off regulatory environment" due to the lack of a mandatory code of practice, and he called for an industry-wide safety standard.
"There is a fundamental problem with our mines inspectorate and the total lack of oversight by a responsible government agency," he said.
"In terms of the public interest in not having mine explosions and killing people and undermining the economic development of various regions, we need to have proper regulation and a proper mines inspectorate."
One of the report's authors, Caledon Coal chief operating officer Brett Garland, said New Zealand legislation was sound, but there was an opportunity to review the code of practice.
"As far as making that mandatory, I'll leave that to the government process to determine whether that's the best outcome."
Asked if more mine inspectors were needed, Mr Garland said that was not within the scope of the audit.
Mr Garland said he would have "no problems" working in a New Zealand mine.
The audit report found two West Coast smaller mines, Roa and Burkes Creek, were not fully compliant with the Health and Safety in Employment Act.
At the Roa mine, where miner Bernard Green was killed in a rock fall in 2006, the auditors found a high-level risk assessment was needed to identify all potentially fatal hazards.
Their report recommended installing a gas monitoring system and undertaking further geotechnical surveys to ensure mining practices were appropriate.
At Burkes Creek the auditors recommended the operators update and improve their mine plans, install an underground communications system, implement daily monitoring of the surface fan, and obtain a test certificate for explosives storage.
Two mines operated by Solid Energy - Spring Creek and Huntly East - were found to be compliant with health and safety regulations, but the auditors nevertheless recommended improvements.
At Spring Creek the auditors identified a number of potential hazards, including the propensity for spontaneous combustion of the seam being worked and the presence of methane as a seam gas.
It noted that Spring Creek had commissioned a review of the risk of underground explosion following the Pike River tragedy.
The auditors found Huntly East had significant documented systems in place, some of which were of a very high standard, but nevertheless recommended a review of the document control process.
The Department of Labour has already begun working with the mines to ensure they acted on the recommendations.
The auditors' report will be provided to the Royal Commission of Inquiry that is looking into the Pike River mine disaster.
NZPA