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Coal Inspectorate | Alert | No.422 V 1 | 12 January 2023

Effective implementation of hazard control for continuous-miner rib-protection system

What happened?

On 27 July 2020 two coal mine workers (CMWs) received serious injuries from rib spall while working on a continuous miner (CM) in an underground development panel heading.

The incident occurred as the CMWs were installing roof support and extending ventilation tubes. An inspection of the site revealed that the machine mounted rib protection system installed on the continuous miner did not provide an effective control for this hazard.

Safety Alert 377 was published on 27 August 2020 soon after the incident occurred, and the Inspectorate commenced a detailed investigation into the incident. The investigation has now been finalised with all factors – including the design, installation and practical application of the engineering controls – being considered. The findings and recommendations from this investigation follow.

Key issues

The Inspectorate’s investigation into the incident identified:

The attached causal diagram (Figure 1) was determined from the investigation.

Recommendations

All Site Senior Executives should:

Investigations are ongoing and further information may be published as it becomes available. The information in this publication is what is known at the time of writing.

We issue Safety Notices to draw attention to the occurrence of a serious incident, raise awareness of risks, and prompt assessment of your existing controls.

Authorised by Peter Newman - Chief Inspector – Coal

Contact: Michael Scully, Inspector of Mines , 0459 878 917

Issued by Resources Safety & Health Queensland

Safety: This information is issued to promote safety through experience. It is not to be taken as a statement of law and must not be construed to waive or modify any legal obligation.
Placement: Place this announcement on noticeboards and ensure all relevant people in your organisation receive a copy, understand the content, findings and recommendations as applicable to their operation. SSEs should validate that recommendations have been implemented.

All information on this page (Effective implementation of hazard control for continuous-miner rib-protection system - https://www.rshq.qld.gov.au/safety-notices/mines/effective-implementation-of-hazard-control-for-continuous-miner-rib-protection-system) is correct as of time of printing (Mar 29, 2024 11:01 am).