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Award coverage: managers and supervisors

I am satisfied, on the basis of the evidence adduced in relation to the nature of the work that Ms Todd was employed to do, that the principal purpose of her role of Drill and Blast Engineer was to supervise the drilling and blasting function at the Tarrawonga and Rocglen Mines, including the direct supervision of the four Explosives Supervisors and the contractors who were engaged by Whitehaven to perform specialised drilling or blasting work.
I accept that there can, in some roles and tasks, be a fine distinction between a managerial role or task and a supervisory one. I also accept that some aspects of Ms Todd’s role were managerial, including undertaking performance reviews of the four Explosives Supervisors who reported to her, but they were, in my view, subsidiary to her primary role as a supervisor. This conclusion is also supported by the fact that:
(a) Mr Margetts agreed that Ms Todd was not a manager; her role was principally supervisory;
(b) the new Position Description does not use the word “manage” at all to describe the role of Drill and Blast Engineer, now known as Drill and Blast Superintendent; and
(c) the new Position Description states that the “position goal” is “direct supervision of the day to day Drill and Blast operations …” and one of the productivity accountabilities is to “oversee and supervise the entire drill and blast operation as per company policy”.
I am satisfied, on the basis of the evidence adduced in relation to the nature of the work that Ms Todd was employed to do, that the principal purpose of her role of Drill and Blast Engineer was to supervise the drilling and blasting function at the Tarrawonga and Rocglen Mines, including the direct supervision of the four Explosives Supervisors and the contractors who were engaged by Whitehaven to perform specialised drilling or blasting work.”

Todd v Whitehaven Coal Limited – Re Black Coal Mining Industry Award 2010 (2016) FWC 5003 delivered 28 July 2016 per Saunders C

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