Which of the following is a primary duty of the Deputy Coal Mine Manager under NSW legislation?

• A. Issuing mining licenses.
• B. Inspecting ore quality.
• C. Setting corporate tax rates.
• D. Assisting the manager and ensuring compliance with WHS laws.

Answer: (D)

The Deputy Coal Mine Manager’s main duty is to assist the manager and ensure compliance with WHS laws. On NSW coal sites, this means helping run the mine safely every day, implementing and enforcing safety management systems, monitoring practices, supervising safety training and inductions, carrying out risk assessments, and ensuring incidents are properly reported and investigated. The deputy also steps in when the manager isn’t on site to keep safety standards continuous and to uphold compliance with health and safety requirements. The other options aren’t within the deputy’s on-site remit: issuing mining licenses is a regulator’s function, inspecting ore quality is a technical quality-control task, and setting corporate tax rates is a government fiscal matter.