Three separate incidents involving mine vehicle collisions has drawn the attention of the New South Wales Resources Regulator.
The first incident occurred when a laden dump truck and a dozer at an open cut coal mine collided while both were reversing on a dump.
The offside rear corner of the dump truck body collided with the left-hand, rear corner of the dozer. Luckily, both operators were uninjured in the incident.
“Mine operators should continually assess the suitability of their collision avoidance controls before they lead to an incident,” the NSW Resources Regulator said.
“Operators should prioritise segregation between dozers and haul trucks on dumps over lower order controls such as positive communications and work procedures.”
The second incident came about when a water cart at another open cut coal mine lost steering as it was negotiating a bend in a haul road and collided with a windrow while attempting an emergency stop.
The Resources Regulator investigated and found the failure was caused by low hydraulic oil level due to an undetected leak. Additionally, the design did not include a low hydraulic oil reservoir level warning to alert the operator.
“This incident highlights the importance of stringent monitoring and quality control of maintenance and repair activities,” the Regulator said.
“After doing maintenance and repairing mobile plant, the plant should be inspected, tested and verified as fit-for-purpose before being returned to service.”
The final incident occurred at an underground metals mine when a technician, who was operating a light vehicle, was rushing to arm barriers for a tele-remote system and failed to park the vehicle correctly before exiting it.
The vehicle immediately rolled backwards about 13m before hitting a wall. The technician had applied the handbrake but left the vehicle running, not in gear and not parked into the wall.
During the incident, the technician ran to the vehicle and tried to re-enter the cabin, but it was moving too fast.
“When implementing controls for safe parking, mine operators should follow the hierarchy of controls,” the Regulator said.
“Engineering controls should be considered before resorting to lower-level controls. Regardless of the engineering controls fitted, workers should always park fundamentally stable. Under no circumstances should a worker ever attempt to re-enter a moving vehicle.”
The NSW Resources Regulator recently complied a report on the rise of vehicle interactions at the state’s mines.
The Regulator has released recommendations to mine operators and workers that aim to offer a structure for tackling the increase in incidents.
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