The former safety manager at the Pike River Coal mine has told an inquiry he did everything he could to prevent a ladder up an air shaft being declared an official means of escape.
A Royal Commission is being held in Greymouth into the deaths of 29 men killed in a series of explosions at the West Coast mine from 19 November last year. The mining company went into receivership in December.
Neville Rockhouse, who lost his son Ben in the disaster, told he hearing on Wednesday of a dispute with then-Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall over the second exit from the mine.
Mr Rockhouse said he had never seen the 100-metre ladder up an air shaft as a satisfactory exit, despite Mr Whittall saying so in an interview.
"I totally refute that statement. At no time did I ever accept this as being a satisfactory means of exit from this mine in any type of emergency situation."
He said as safety manager, he was always concerned with the intent by the mining company to nominate this shaft as a second exit.
Mr Rockhouse said Mines Rescue Service had also concluded that the ladder was not suitable as a secondary exit, although Mr Whittall had refused to sign off that report.
Mr Rockhouse told the hearing he assumed his difference with the chief executive over the exit was why the risk assessment he did of the mine was also never signed off.
He said Mr Whittall had also declined a proposal to buy a steel refuse chamber to use in emergencies.
The mine's former manager, Doug White, told the hearing on Wednesday the second exit would not have met safety standards in Queensland, where he was once the deputy safety inspector.
Purpose-built fresh air base decommissioned
Doug White underwent intense questioning about the lack of a dedicated fresh air base in the mine at the time of the disaster.
Mr White was questioned by Nigel Hampton, QC, the lawyer for the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union.
Mr White said a purpose-built fresh air base had been decommissioned some weeks before the blast but there was another place in the mine where self-rescue equipment, an air supply and a telephone was provided.
However, he agreed with Mr Hansen that the replacement fresh air base did not have double doors to provide an air lock to protect the atmosphere inside it in an emergency.
Mr White was also questioned about the time it took him to confirm the first explosion on 19 November.
Mr Hansen told the hearing it had taken 41 minutes from the blast until Mr White had established there had been an explosion and activated an emergency response.
When questioned why it took so long, Mr White said he had seen no physical evidence and no one had noticed a blast there on the monitor screens in the control room.
