The University of Newcastle conducted a study, which included 859 workers employed at Port Waratah Coal Service site, in the Hunter region of NSW. They included workers who were working at the site between the year 1983 and 2006.

They revealed that out of the total, 63 workers were diagnosed with cancer, out of which a majority were men, with 58 of them diagnosed with the deadly disease.

The study reports raised concerns over the health of the workers. They emphasized that these workers were two to three times more susceptible of being diagnosed with cancer, in comparison to the residents of Newcastle and Australia.

Further, they concluded that the majority of the men were either diagnosed with Melanoma or prostate or bowel cancers. Epidemiology professor John Attia, who led the research, asserted that the major cause behind the workers being diagnosed of the cancer types at the site were due to the places they were working in. The research was conducted on behalf of the company due to raising concerns by the employees.

A WorkCover spokesman said, "The agency had been in contact with the Department of Health and the Office of Environment and Heritage to make a preliminary assessment of the report findings".