Ex-military man highly aware of task’s dangers
The boss of the Pike River Recovery Agency is prepared to suit up and enter the mine’s drift himself, and will do so if given the chance.
Former chief of army Dave Gawn has taken on what’s been called the worst job in the country, carrying the burden of legal liability if the Government green-lights a recovery team to go into the gaseous drift of the mine.
In an exclusive interview with NZME, Gawn says he is very aware of putting recovery workers into a potentially fatal situation.
“I do not expect and never have expected anyone to undertake anything that I wouldn’t do myself.”
It’s a principle that guided him through a 38-year career in the military, where he held the role of chief of the army from 2013-15, joint forces commander from 2011-13 and land commander of the army from 2007-10.
Does he want to go into the drift himself?
“I’d love to. What you don’t want is to force something like that and, if you’re not trained, you become a risk to those that are trained. That’s unacceptable.”
Gawn said he would like to go in if he was fully trained and “it fits within the plan”.
The plan Gawn is referring to is the process to develop a reentry proposal. At its completion, the agency will take a recommendation to Pike River Recovery Minister Andrew Little for sign-off.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, Gawn is legally liable if lives are lost in a recovery mission, even though
the decision is ultimately the minister’s. “While there’s been lots of talk about how Mr Little will be responsible for his decisions, it will be some poor senior public servant who carries the can,” National Party workplace relations spokeswoman Amy Adams has said.
But Gawn simply counters that the law applies to any chief executive of any agency, public or private: “The minister is going to make the final determination of whether we go in based on the plan we develop, and that’s entirely appropriate, just as it is in military operations, or police, or prisons.”
It has been more than seven years since the explosion that ripped through the mine, killing 29 men.
The Government has committed to a manned re-entry of the mine’s drift by March 2019, as long as it can be done safely.
Solid Energy, which is in the