A full investigation has commenced into a haul truck-excavator collision at BHP’s Mt Arthur coal mine in New South Wales.
The collision occurred on February 20 when the rear of the truck and its tailgate collided with the side of the excavator’s cabin. This caused the front left side pillar of the excavator to be pushed inward towards the operator and the cabin roof forced upward.
The truck operator thought he had established communications with the excavator operator but he was communicating with another of the site contractor’s representatives.
The haul truck then reversed towards the excavator without positive communications established between the operators.
The excavator operator tried to move the excavator out of the truck’s path but was unable to do so because of the large size of the truck and the position of the excavator on the bench.
Extensive damage was caused to the excavator’s cabin and the operator was unable to exit the cabin using the normal means of egress.
An emergency was called and an operation was commenced to free the excavator operator, who was eventually freed from the cabin uninjured.
The state Resources Regulator has now commenced an investigation to determine the cause and circumstances of the incident.
The investigation will examine the effectiveness of controls to eliminate or minimise risks to health and safety arising from mobile plant interactions including the:
- planning and coordination of mobile plant activity
- communication leading up to the incident
- instruction, training, experience and supervision of the workers
- adequacy of risk assessments, work instructions and procedures
- effectiveness of the mine operator’s mobile plant commissioning processes
- alternative methods of scraping material out of truck beds that eliminates or further minimises the risk of collision between vehicles.
BHP is assisting with the investigation, with the results expected to help drive safety at the Mt Arthur site.
Subscribe to Safe to Work for the safety news that matters most to the Australian mining industry.