A 30-tonne excavator has collided with a water truck on a coal mine in Toowoomba, Queensland.
The truck was watering on the offside of the excavator and had not used positive two-way radio communications with the excavator operator. As a result, the excavator operator, unaware of the hazard, has collided with the water truck.
Fortunately, no workers were injured. The truck cabin sustained moderate damage.
Resources Safety and Health Queensland (RSHQ) has identified vehicle collisions as one of the top three high potential incidents reported in the coal mining industry.
Heavy mining vehicles have many blind spots, so communication is a critical administrative control when it comes to avoiding collisions. Other control options include collision avoidance and proximity detection systems. These types of systems are able to warn vehicle operators when a pedestrian or vehicle enters a pre-defined exclusion zone.
At lower levels of intervention, these systems simply warn operators through an audible and visual alarm. At higher levels, these systems can automatically stop a vehicle when a person or vehicle enters the exclusion zone.
RSHQ has called for site senior executives at coal mines to review their safety procedures around hazards associated with mobile equipment interaction. The review should specifically focus on persons on foot as well as light and medium vehicles which have an elevated risk when entering heavy-vehicle operational areas.
The Regulator also gave an example of best-practice in this space.
“Industry leading best-practice requires workers to make positive communication and for heavy equipment to stop operating when persons on foot, or light and medium vehicles enter the operational area (typically a 50m exclusion zone),” RHSQ said.
“Light and medium vehicle operators should have positive communication and observe the stopping of equipment prior to entering the heavy vehicle operational area.
“Some operators have installed proximity detection to warn heavy vehicle operators of other vehicles entering the exclusion zone. Industry-leading best practice is for the proximity detection to stop the heavy equipment when persons on foot, or light and medium vehicles enter the exclusion zone.”