Occupational Health & Safety News

Increased penalties for company breaches of OH&S legislation have just been passed in South Australia, including possible imprisonment of up to five years.

No longer can company Directors and Managers afford to ignore safety procedures in the workplace. The South Australian Government has taken a tough stand to show that they mean business when it comes to workplace safety.

The SA Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare (Penalties) Amendment Bill was passed on Wednesday the 21st of November 2007. The Act considerably increases the maximum penalties from the current fine of $100,000 to $300,000 for a first offence and for a second offence an increase from $200,000 to $600,000.

Changes within the Act also includes a new ‘reckless endangerment’ provision which attracts a fine of up to $1.2million for Companies and individual employees, managers and directors face a maximum personal penalty of $400,000 or imprisonment of up to five years.

For more details regarding the changes please click here to read the Sparke Helmore bulletin.

31-Jan-2008  Driller crushed to death in Cooper Basin

A 36-year-old Queensland man was killed while operating a drilling rig in the Cooper Basin in South Australia in late January.

The man was working with contractor, Precision Drilling International, which was operating a drilling rig for Santos Ltd. At about 10am on Sunday 27 January the man was pinned between a manual rig tong and the derrick mast and sustained fatal crush injuries.

SafeWork SA, Primary Industries and Resources SA, and South Australia Police have been investigating the incident. Australian Mining

31-Jan-2008 Incident response unsatisfactory

New laws may be needed to ensure an adequate level of co-operation from mine management and their contractors when mines inspectors investigate serious safety incidents, Queensland Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said.

On Thursday, 17 January, a 51-year old employee of a mining contractor was killed underground at the BHP Billiton Cannington mine site, south-east of Mount Isa.

Wilson said he requested a meeting with BHP Billiton Cannington and mining contractor EROC after reports that critical information was withheld from mines inspectors and police for a full 24 hours after the fatality.

"Buck passing between mine management and the contractor over who was to blame for withholding information from mines inspectors is a very worrying development. "When such a tragedy occurs, inspectors need to access the site, identify what happened and satisfy themselves there is no further danger of injury. They cannot do that efficiently if mine management and their contractors are unable or unwilling to provide basic information as quickly as possible.
"Both have a responsibility to ensure the investigators have enough information to do their work finding out why it happened and how such a tragedy can be avoided in the future."

Wilson said he had asked the Mines Inspectorate to recommend what stronger powers were needed to ensure essential information is obtained in a timely way.
The Mines Inspectorate will provide its recommendations after full consideration of the information provided about this incident. Wilson said the independent Mines Inspectorate would also provide a report into the fatal incident to the Coroner in due course. Australian Mining

USA - COAL MINE FATALITY

On Tuesday January 8, 2008, a 29-year old truck driver with three years experience was fatally injured while attempting to dump spoil. The truck over-traveled the edge of the dump and rolled down the spoil slope approximately 140 feet.

USA - COAL MINE FATALITY

On Saturday, January 12, 2008, a fall of highwall accident resulted in fatal injuries to a shovel operator with 22 years of mining experience. The shovel was located parallel to and approximately 40 feet away from the toe of the highwall which was approximately 45 feet high. During a normal work break, the shovel operator climbed off the shovel.

While the shovel operator was positioned between the toe of the highwall and the shovel, the highwall collapsed and pushed the victim against the track of the shovel. After returning to the pit and finding the shovel operator missing, a haul truck driver radioed for assistance. The shovel operator was found mostly covered in the sandy loam type material from the highwall. The victim was recovered but CPR was unsuccessful.

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"Australian Mining"
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