Solid Energy has called a public meeting in Huntly to allay concerns about safety in Huntly East coal mine, amid claims workers stay underground while methane gas is at dangerous levels.
The meeting at 4pm on Friday follows investigations into an incident on November 11 when a methane spike forced 40 miners to evacuate and resulted in the Labour Department issuing a notice to improve the mine's ventilation system.
Solid Energy chief operating officer Barry Bragg says he remains confident the mine is operating safely and can not find any evidence to support allegations being leaked to the media.
But a miner told the Waikato Times workers put rags over sensors which automatically switch off their equipment when methane levels reach 1.25 per cent - so as to maintain production.
It was dangerous given the high concentration of methane and poor ventilation in the section being mined, he said.
Tim Whyte, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's Queensland district check inspector, told the newspaper that Queensland mines were evacuated if methane gas levels reached 2.5 per cent anywhere.
By contrast evacuation would only occur at Huntly East if one area spiked to 5 per cent or more and the cut-off safe level of 1.25 per cent level was reached in other areas.
"It's unacceptable to reach 5 per cent and still have people working underground," he said.
A member of the Labour Department's newly created High Hazards Unit visited the mine on Thursday and the unit's head Brett Murray said Solid Energy was cooperating fully with its investigation.
"Solid Energy has taken immediate steps to deal with the changes required by the improvement notice and has its own investigation under way," Mr Murray said.
Mr Bragg has rejected comparisons between the situation at Huntly East and the methane explosions at the Pike River mine that killed 29 men last November.
NZN