
Friday, 1 May 2026
Danger as a condition of work
At 2pm on July 31, 1902, Mount Kembla Colliery exploded. The blast killed 96 workers, shattering families across the Illawarra region of NSW. The Mount Kembla explosion remains the worst recorded mining disaster in Australian history. No one knew exactly what caused the explosion, but an inquiry into the tragedy determined that it was likely due to gas and coal dust. The Royal Commission concluded that the disaster could have been prevented if naked lights were substituted with safety lamps. On September 19, 1921, a series of violent explosions ripped through the Mount Mulligan coal mine in central Queensland. The explosions killed 75 workers. The investigation that followed revealed a shocking level of negligence. Despite operations commencing more than a…


