Weekly incident summary
18 January 2019 | ISR19-02 | Go to website
To report an incident call 1300 814 609 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Week ending 11 January 2019
High level summary of emerging trends and our recommendations to operators.
Reportable incidents total: 37
Summarised incidents: 5
This incident summary provides information on reportable incidents and safety advice for the NSW mining industry.
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Dangerous incident | IncNot0033593
Summary: A section of pipe was being removed for maintenance work. When it was cut, it dropped 4.4 metres to the floor below, bounced into a gap between the floor and vibrating screen, and landed on the level below.
Recommendations to industry: When conducting maintenance activities where objects are removed, controls must be put in place to manage the risk of falling objects. When establishing a no-go zone as a control for falling objects, bouncing or ricocheting must be considered.
Dangerous incident | IncNot0033573
Summary: A metal fastener hit a worker in an underground coal mine. A horizontal clevis pin failed, hit an electrical enclosure and then ricocheted, striking the worker’s hand. The worker underwent surgery the following day.
Recommendations to industry: Clevises and pins should be included as part of life cycle management plans. Dimension checks should be routinely conducted to confirm wear in the clevises and pins. Uneven wear can induce abnormal loading.
Dangerous incident | IncNot0033526
Summary: A collision occurred when an excavator slewed, striking a dozer with the counterweight. The dozer operator called up the excavator operator who confirmed the message. The dozer came up beside the excavator and as it was reversing, the excavator started to slew. The counterweight made contact with the dozer, damaging the ladder and door. The door was damaged and required additional force to open it. No injuries were sustained.
Recommendations to industry: Details of positive communications requirements such as equipment number, message content and confirmation should be detailed in mine procedures and training. All operators must follow the correct positive communications even when working with the same workers over a long period of time. Experience does not remove the need for positive communications.
Dangerous incident | IncNot0033554
Summary: An undermanager saw and extinguished a conveyor belt fire in an underground coal mine. The undermanager was completing an inspection. The fire occurred when a bearing failed and grease and belt fibres were ignited.
Recommendations to industry: Accumulation of belt fibres is a known fuel source. Conveyor tracking should be monitored and corrected to prevent belt damage creating fibres. When fibres accumulate they should be removed.
Dangerous incident | IncNot0033520
Summary: Coal hit a mine worker when he was operating a continuous miner in an underground coal mine. After installing a roof bolt, the worker was walking along the side of the continuous miner when a bump was heard and a piece of rib 2.3 x 0.8 x 0.35 metres long fell, hitting the rib protection fitted to the continuous miner. A piece broke off and fell against the roof bolter, hitting the operator and knocking him over. The operator did not suffer any serious injury, reporting soreness in his left shoulder.
Recommendations to industry: Temporary strata support and protections should be detailed in the systems for managing strata failure.
Mine workers and supervisors must be trained to identify the trigger and action response in trigger action response plans (TARPs).
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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 Annual Performance Measures Reports.
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