Lessons from Gretley: Mindful leadership and the law

Following on from the highly respected Lessons from Longford comes Lessons from Gretley, exploring the 1996 Gretley Mine disaster in NSW and its OHS implications. Written by premier OHS author Professor Andrew Hopkins, the book is provoked by current attempts to hold directors and managers responsible for workplace accidents. Lessons from Gretley describes the 2004/05 conviction and fining of two mine managers in NSW following the mine disaster at Gretley near Newcastle in 1996 and discusses whether the law was unfair to these managers. The book also examines the impact of the Gretley prosecution on the industry, using interviews with a small sample of mine managers. Hopkins then proposes the controversial view that effective OHS law must hold the top corporate leaders responsible when something goes seriously wrong, regardless of whether they were personally at fault.