The State Government announced earlier this month in its state budget that mining companies would be charged a levy – working out at about $800 per employee – to run the Queensland Mines Inspectorate.

Addressing the Queensland Coal 08 conference in Brisbane yesterday, QRC chief executive Michael Roche said a "tax on jobs" was an unwarranted imposition on an industry at the cutting edge of health and safety innovation.

“Queensland's tripartite approach to mining safety and health was highly regarded both here and internationally,” he said.

“With funding transferred to industry, I fear we risk spending more time analysing every aspect of the inspectorate's daily operations rather than focusing on the ultimate health and safety goal of zero-harm."

Roche said the QRC had already received a report of a mining inspector arriving at a site in North Queensland and declaring himself a virtual employee of the company.

“No doubt mentioned in jest, comments such as this risk becoming a perception that will only serve to dog the implementation of new policies and initiatives designed to improve health and safety outcomes," he said.

“The really sad part of all of this is that, in a budget that is pulling in an additional $2.2 billion in mineral royalties, the Government is risking a fundamental change to the state’s health and safety regime for the sake of less than $30 million in health and safety tax revenue in a full year."

A spokesperson for Queensland Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson told International Longwall News the levy would boost the services provided by the state's mine safety watchdog.

“We're asking for $26 million from an industry that was worth $26 billion to Queensland in 2006-07 so that the Mines Inspectorate can continue to do the job it does best," the spokesperson said.

The new levy will fund seven new specialist mines inspectors, two investigators, five scientific research staff, an occupational hygienist, a statistician and a manager of health surveillance.