Safe to Work takes a look at two safety incidents at New South Wales mines last week and how all involved avoided injury.
At the first incident, a dozer operator at an open cut coal mine in NSW remained cool under pressure when a strata failure led to a large rock to fall on the equipment as it tracked along below.
The driver was not injured in the rock fall and managed to drive the dozer a further 50m to safety.
The NSW Resources Regulator investigated the incident and said that when it comes to highwalls, maintenance is key.
“When geotechnical reports identify hazards on highwalls, mine operators should ensure that controls to manage the risks are implemented and communicated to workers,” the Regulator said.
“In areas where previous geotechnical failures have occurred, the frequency of inspections and reporting on hazards should be increased and the outcomes communicated to workers.”
The NSW Resources Regulator was also on hand to investigate an incident at an underground metals mine, which saw a tyre failure shoot rocks into a worker area.
The incident occurred when an outer tyre of a loaded haul truck failed and released its pressure, scattering rocky material over a range of approximately 75m.
The material hit an adjacent drill rig and landed in an area where workers were servicing a digger.
No workers were impacted or injured by the material, but some equipment was damaged.
The state’s Regulator said the integrity of tyres is a critical control in preventing the uncontrolled blast of compressed gas from within the tyre.
“Tyres should be inspected closely as part of pre-use inspections and operators should receive training to assist them in identifying tyre defects,” the Regulator said.
“The suitability of tyres for the duty cycle must be considered prior to being declared fit-for-purpose.”
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