The Pike River Royal Commission has been told that serious safety problems in the mine recurred for months without ever being fixed.
The inquiry into the disaster which killed 29 men in November last year will finish hearing its eighth week of evidence on Friday.
Pike River Coal's former safety manager Neville Rockhouse was asked on Thursday about recurring safety hazards picked up in underground audits that were not resolved.
He signed off on audit reports in 2009 and 2010 which found that problems were not fixed up to nine months after they were identified.
Mr Rockhouse told the commission he knew problems were recurring but did not have the resources to intervene.
He says he repeatedly asked mine manager and chief executive Peter Whittall for more staff but never got any.
Evidence shocks families
Marty Palmer, whose son was killed in the mine, says he was shocked to hear about ongoing safety problems, despite having worked underground himself.
Mr Palmer still works at Pike River as a shift co-ordinator.
He told Morning Report someone needs to be held accountable for the problems.
"I remember at the start of the inquiry when an individual made a statement that this was the biggest homicide in New Zealand and I've got to say, after listening to the commission over the past month with the evidence that's been put forward, I'm beginning to believe it," he said.
