Weekly incident summary - week ending 19 June 2020
37 reportable incidents, 3 summarised below
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Dangerous incident | IncNot0037567
Open cut coal mine
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Summary: Workers were lowering a shovel cable from a cable tower in an open cut mine when the shovel tower rope broke and the cable fell to the ground. The cable tower rope was attached to the ripper of a grader to lower the cable and the cable was being pulled at an angle. It was dark and wet at the time of the incident. The shovel tower brake mechanism was thrown about 60 metres and hit a supervisor on the hand. The supervisor, who was standing about 3 metres from the tower, suffered hand fractures.
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Comments to industry: Operators are reminded of the need to follow documented procedures for tasks - to conduct a thorough risk assessment and to implement controls for identified risks, such as using fit-for-purpose equipment and establishing no-go zones.
The identification and use of fit-for-purpose equipment must be completed and documented for every task.
Safe standing zones, with a focus on remaining outside the line of fire for all foreseeable failures, must be established.
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Dangerous incident | IncNot0037608
Underground metals
Principal mining hazard: Fire or explosion
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Summary: A loader, operating in remote mode, caught fire in the ventilation incline (exhaust side) while bogging at the bottom of a new ventilation shaft.
The loader’s fire suppression system was activated, and three fire extinguishers were used but were unsuccessful in extinguishing the flames. All workers proceeded to refuge chambers and safely exited the mine.
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Comments to industry: This incident is under investigation and the cause of the fire is not yet confirmed. A preliminary investigation suggests there was a fault in the brake solenoid circuit that caused the brakes to overheat. Further information may be published at a later date.
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Dangerous incident | IncNot0037586
Open cut metals
Principal mining hazard: Roads or other vehicle operating areas
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Summary: A service truck was driving down the main ramp of an open cut mine when the brakes failed. In order to bring the truck to a halt, the driver turned the truck into the wall.
The driver received lacerations to his forehead and bruising to his face. The service truck is a modified flatbed diesel on-road truck.
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Comments to industry: Preliminary assessment indicates that the service truck was fit-for-purpose, however the driver, while assessed as competent on other vehicles, had not been assessed as competent for the service truck.
Mine operators must ensure that vehicle operators are competent for the vehicles they operate and that they follow daily pre-start checks on vehicles.
A drive-through park brake test should be carried out daily as part of the pre-start check.
The service truck driver did not apply the park brake or the suppression brake during the incident.
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Other publications of interest
These incidents are included for your review. The NSW Resources Regulator does not endorse the findings or recommendations of these incidents. It is your legal duty to exercise due diligence to ensure the business complies with its work health and safety obligations.
National (other non-fatal)
Publication: DMIRS (WA)
Workers tipped out of basket - Significant incident report (SIR) No 281
On 11 February 2020, a service crew was relocating a jumbo box and hanging an attached high voltage electrical supply cable. They were using an integrated tool carrier (ITC) with a work basket. A linkage failure on the boom of the ITC resulted in the two workers being thrown onto the ground. The workers suffered serious, but non-fatal injuries.
Details
Publication: QMI (Coal)
Incident periodical May 2020
Fall of ground #1
- Coal mine workers observed evidence of a fall of ground at the highwall. Good communication ensured that there was no impact to the safety of workers. The failure occurred in a controlled manner and within the defined exclusion zone.
Fall of ground #2
- Drill operators, operating outside the exclusion zone, were forced to evacuate to safety as a highwall failed and material breached the exclusion zone.
Line of fire #1
- A cylinder pin was being removed from an excavator boom. The plan was to use the tractive force of a 20-tonne Franne crane, applied via a fabric sling to an attachment point welded to the pin. The attachment point failed at the weld and the energy release in the sling caused the attachment to strike the windscreen. No workers were injured.
Line of fire #2
- A worker sitting in a dozer narrowly escaped injury as the dozer window was hit by a projectile. A nearby (20 metres) tyre failure, released energy and ejected a 50 millimetre rock through the glass door of the dozer.
Worker seriously injured
- A worker suffered a tear to the ACL and a fracture while attempting to open a ventilation door.
Underground vehicle collision
- An unattended driftrunner was hit with the load being carried by a forward moving Eimco front end loader. The driftrunner had been left parked across the cut through, parallel to the road on the offside of the Eimco operator cabin. No-one was in the driftrunner at the time of the collision.
Incident Periodical May 2020
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You can find all our guidance and incident related publications (that is, safety alerts, safety bulletins, incident information releases, weekly incident summaries and investigation reports) on our website: resourcesregulator.nsw.gov.au
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*While the majority of incidents are reported and recorded within a week of the event, some are notified outside this time period. The incidents in this report therefore have not necessarily occurred in a one week period. All newly recorded incidents, whatever the incident date, are reviewed by the Chief Inspector and senior staff each week and summarised in this report. For more comprehensive statistical data refer to our Safety Performance Measures Reports and our Business Activity Reports
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