Weekly incident summary - week ending 27 March 2020
43 reportable incidents, 5 summarised below
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Dangerous incident | IncNot0037001
Open-cut coal mine
Principal hazard: Roads or other vehicle operating areas
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Summary: A nose to tail contact has occurred between two haul trucks. One truck turned a corner and stopped, waiting to turn onto a dump access road. The second truck turned the same corner, but did not notice that the truck in front was stationary. The contact occurred at low speed. The hand railing on the rear truck was damaged, but there was no contact with the cabin.
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Recommendations to industry: Mine operators must conduct an assessment and identify areas where there is a risk of collision. When developing risk control measures, the hierarchy of controls must be considered.
Positive communication requirements must be implemented where a risk of collision remains.
Systems such as collision detection and avoidance systems, visual aids and segregation should be implemented before relying on procedural controls.
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Dangerous incident | IncNot0037003
Underground coal mine
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Summary: A worker received an electric shock from the body of a shuttle car. The worker had been assisting fitters to repair the flight chains on the shuttle car. He tested the conveyor chains, but left the pump running when he exited the shuttle car. With one hand on a metal bar he had stuck in the ground for support, the worker touched the boom of the car with his free hand and received what he described as a ‘tingle’ in both hands. A series of tests conducted revealed no obvious source of the fault. The fault was resolved following the replacement of the reeling cable. It is suspected that failed earth conductors created an asymmetrical cable fault.
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Recommendations to industry: Investigation of electric shock incidents can be very complex, particularly where no obvious insulation failure or equipment damage is present. A thorough investigation must examine all potential failure mechanisms and the integrity of earthing systems at all relevant frequencies, to ensure no latent fault exists that may lead to a reoccurrence.
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Dangerous incident | IncNot0037018
Quarry
Principal hazard: Fire or explosion
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Summary: A dump truck operator observed oil on the ground under a front-end loader (FEL) and advised the operator. Some 30 seconds later, the excavator operator, who was loading the dump truck, saw flames on the FEL and instructed the operator to get out of the loader. The fire suppression system and a water cart were used to extinguish the flames. The FEL was extensively damaged.
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Recommendations to industry: The cause of this fire has not yet been established.
For further information refer to our dedicated website page about fires on mobile plant.
Refer to our position paper: Fires-on-mobile-plant-position-paper-October-2019.
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Dangerous incident | IncNot0037206
Quarry
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Summary: A contract worker was removing a hose on an excavator to fit protective sleeving, when residual oil under pressure escaped and hit the worker in the chest. The worker was transported to hospital for medical assessment and was cleared of any injuries.
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Recommendations to industry: Mine workers must be trained and competent in isolation. Correct isolation includes the identification of all energy sources and the complete dissipation of the energy. Training must include all steps in the isolation process.
Workers undertaking isolation procedures on plant should be familiar with the plant’s hydraulic circuit and manufacturer’s guidance for depressurisation of the circuit.
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Dangerous incident | IncNot0037042
Open-cut coal mine
Principal hazard: Roads or other vehicle operating areas
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Summary: Two light vehicles (LV) came into contact while driving on a designated LV roadway. The roadway was wet and the vehicles were heading towards one another when one began to slide. The second LV took evasive action and mounted a windrow to avoid the oncoming LV, but the sliding vehicle made side contact with the other vehicle. No one was injured.
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Recommendations to industry: All mines must consider the hazard of speeding while driving. Vehicles should be operated at a speed that is appropriate to the prevailing conditions.
Engineering controls need to be considered to minimise this risk, including the use of speed monitoring and alarms.
Segregation between vehicles travelling in opposite directions should be considered when developing the principal hazard management plan for roads and other vehicle operating areas.
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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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