In New South Wales over the past month, there have been two significant incidents involving recoiling metal from slings and ropes.
Both incidents involved workers who were in the line of fire of metal objects travelling at high speed when the rope or sling they were attached to suddenly recoiled.
The first incident occurred when contract mine workers were removing pins from a length of excavator track on a shutdown pad with a series of slings attached to a forklift.
A particularly tough pin recoiled under the tension of the slings, shattering the rear window of the forklift, narrowly missing the operator, before shattering the front windscreen and coming to rest entangled in the mast.
The forklift operator suffered only minor grazing to their back from the broken glass.
The second incident occurred at an underground coal mine. Workers were installing a pull rope over the return side of conveyor belt structure that was suspended from the roof using a load haul dump machine (LHD).
A knot in the rope as the LHD moved forward and became stuck in the conveyor structure.
The end of the rope was fitted with a metal eyelet weighing approximately one kilogram. Tension in the rope developed and recoiled the eyelet past the workers.
In response to the incidents, the NSW Resources Regulator has released recommendations to workers, supervisors and operators in a bid to bring this increasing issue to light and keep workers from the line of fire.
The Regulator is warning mines to check for correct mining documentation, work to identify potential hazards, and ensure proper procedures are followed.
Specifically, the Regulator recommends the use of a steel bar instead of webbing slings to eliminate stored energy potential, or the use of soft shackles instead of steel, or tow sling dampener blankets when undertaking pulling activities.
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