Mine workers are being reminded to exercise situational awareness when operating mobile equipment following a two vehicle collision at a New South Wales open cut coal mine.
According to the NSW Resources Regulator, the “dangerous incident” occurred last month when a bulldozer was doing a clean-up for an excavator while the excavator was loading a dump truck.
A second dump truck then entered the area and went to queue up about 30 metres from where the truck was being loaded.
As the bulldozer operator reversed to turn and leave the area, they collided with the position six tyre of the queued truck.
In its report the regulator said the incident was caused due to the dozer operator not identifying the second truck that had entered the work area.
Responding to the incident, the NSW regulator said awareness is a “key control” when operating mobile equipment.
“Workers should be trained in the importance of this control and include it in their pre-task risk assessments,” it said.
“Mine operators should continually review the suitability of collision avoidance technology as it evolves, and new products become available.”
The regulator also urged operators to prioritise segregation between dozers and haul trucks, over lower order controls such as positive communication and work procedures.
As part of a safety bulletin released in 2024, the regulator made several recommendations for the industry to curb incidents involving bulldozers.
It asked mine operators to review risk control measures, reassess safety systems, and communicate to workers the hazards present in their work area.
Shift operators were recommended to also undertake certain actions including confirming operators have identified all hazards in their workplaces, and ensuring the proposed risk controls for respective hazards are effective.
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