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New training facility to ensure miner safety

Resources Minister Scott Stewart and QMRS CEO David Carey at the new training facility.

Queensland’s Central Highlands has opened a new training facility designed for intricate mine rescue challenges. 

The Queensland Mines Rescue Service (QMRS) station will ensure worker safety stays at the forefront of the industry. 

“The most important thing to come off any Queensland resource site isn’t the coal or minerals– it’s the workers,” Queensland Resources Minister Scott Stewart said. 

The 52-acre site, located on the Capricorn Highway, will be the first new mines rescue station to be constructed in the state in the last 40 years. 

 It will include a vertical rope rescue training tower, simulated mine and four-storey confined space training.  

“Some people are describing it as the best training facility anywhere in the world, and I think they’re spot on,” Stewart said. 

 The new facility will see the work of QMRS continue to improve in safety and efficiency and will be an integral part of the resources industry in Central Queensland.  

Stewart added that the facility will further the commitment of QMRS and the state to ensure that all workers return home safely after every shift. 

Queensland Mines Rescue Service’s work in risk management and as first responders is second to none, which is why opening this new training facility today is so important,” Stewart said. 

QMRS has been training rescue personnel since 1909 and the new facility will represent a shift to 21st-century solutions to new rescue challenges.  

“Mines Rescue teams train hard for actions that they hope never to use but for which they must be ready for every day of their working lives,” QRMS chief executive officer David Carey said. 

In a move that represents a major win for miner safety, the facility will allow the long history of QRMS training to continue in order to protect future generations. 

 “The Mines Rescue Service has been a part of the Queensland industry since the very early days of mining in the state and is now positioned to continue that support into the future.” 

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