BHP has taken top honours at this year’s South Australian Mines Emergency Response Competition (SAMERC), with teams from both its Carrapateena and Prominent Hill operations leading the field after two days of high-pressure scenarios in the Adelaide Hills.
Held last month at the CFS Training Centre in Brukunga, the event brought together eight teams from across Australia and New Zealand as part of the National Safe Work campaign.
Tested across 10 complex scenarios, competitors demonstrated their ability to manage real-world mining emergencies, from rescue and firefighting to medical response.
BHP’s Carrapateena team emerged as the overall winner, sweeping several major categories including Theory, BA Search and Rescue, Road Crash Rescue, Industrial Rescue, and Best Captain.
The Prominent Hill team also performed strongly, taking out the Firefighting category against skilled groups.
Carrapateena, located 472 kilometres north-west of Adelaide on the traditional lands of the Kokatha people, is one of South Australia’s largest mining projects and a key part of BHP’s Minerals Australia operations.
Together with Prominent Hill, the two sites underscored BHP’s strong safety culture and emergency response capability.
Now in its 16th year, SAMERC remains a cornerstone for emergency readiness across the mining sector, testing capability, teamwork and leadership under pressure.
This year’s only international entrant, OceanaGold NZ, won the Chairman’s Award along with the Vertical Rescue and Confined Space Rescue events. Other category winners included CSA Mine NSW for Surface Rescue, and SIMEC Whyalla for Team Skills and First Aid.
SafeWork SA was a premium sponsor of the competition.
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