Mining company fined for building workers’ accommodation without...

Mining company fined for building workers’ accommodation without a permit.



A nickel-focused mining company has been fined for building a 12-person workers’ accommodation camp without a permit at its Kanowna operation.

Poseidon Nickel appeared in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Monday after pleading guilty to building without a permit on its Black Swan project site 50km north-east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

The court was told staff from the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder visited the site in November last year and saw three modular buildings that each included accommodation for four people and ensuite bathrooms.
The City officers informed Poseidon Nickel the buildings had no permits on December 7 and advised the company that retrospective certificates would need to be provided.

The court was told the company had told officers the accommodation was relocated from another site to the Black Swan operations to assist the company amid a rental shortage in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

But the court was also told the accommodation was established on site for the health and safety of employees who had been driving home from work in the dark on an unsealed road, often after a 12-hour shift.

The court was told the company took immediate action and started the process to have the three structures retrospectively certified.

Magistrate Genevieve Cleary said Poseidon Nickel had not purposefully broken the law, and had no malicious intent behind not getting a permit for the works.

She told the court permits for mining companies could be complex, with “exemptions to the exemptions” leading to the “system failure” that allowed the accommodation to be housed on site.

However, Ms Cleary said it was important that any buildings in the region were constructed appropriately and deemed safe through a process of “checks and balances” to ensure workers weren’t put at risk.

Ms Cleary fined Poseidon Nickel $6000 — taking into account the company’s early plea of guilty — and ordered them to pay $1417.30 in costs.