A recent incident at a New South Wales open cut coal mine has highlighted the need to ensure stable ground when designing dumps.
The incident occurred when a rear dump truck reversed up to a tip head and began discharging its load.
As the load was falling the tip edge slumped, causing the rear of the truck to sink with the slumped material.
The dump slumped at a slow rate, allowing the operator time to exit the vehicle without injury.
The NSW Resources Regulator attended the scene to investigate.
“When designing a dump, ground stability should be a primary consideration,” the Regulator said.
“Material consistency, wet conditions and dipping ground stability should be factored into the design.
“Inspections should verify dump integrity. Areas that do not meet the standard should be demarcated, communicated to operators and remediated to meet the standard.”
The state Regulator was also recently on hand to investigate an incident at another open cut coal mine elsewhere in the state.
At the time of the incident, maintenance technicians were working on a haul truck, troubleshooting an automatic hoisting issue by raising and lowering the tray.
While raising the tray, the lower hose-end of the left-hand hoist cylinder failed, releasing oil under pressure and ejecting part of the hose end connection about 38m behind the truck.
Luckily, the connection missed colliding with personnel or equipment.
“When developing control measures for the unintended release of mechanical energy, mine operators must consider safe work systems for people dealing with plant maintenance,” the Regulator said.
“All potential hazards associated with energy sources need to be identified and controls should be put in place.
“This is especially important when there is the potential for stored energy to be released without warning.”
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