Key to the complaints in the employees' petition were claims that employees were being subjected to duress to sign AWAs and that the safety of operations were being compromised.

In an quick response to these claims, the OWS sent a senior investigator to meet with management and employees at the mine site. As a result it was discovered that a number of signatures on the petition were not of employees of BHP Billiton.

In response to the accusation of duress in the agreement making process for new employees the OWS stated that according to legislation "a person does not apply duress in connection with the making of an AWA merely because they require another person to make an AWA as a condition of employment."

The OWS met with a random sample of employees and issued a statement that it was yet to find any evidence of duress being applied to the agreement making process.

The investigation is continuing with the OWS committed to ensuring that "each individual has open opportunity to raise any potential issue that they may have regarding the making of their employment contract."