Meeting with Minerals Development Victoria regarding it’s future directions following on from the Supply and Demand report, Melbourne, attended by Dr Elizabeth Gibson.
An Invitation from the CMPA.
A further round of workshops on two critical issues in the Extractive Industry will be held next month:
‘Working Safely with Geotechnical Risks in Quarries’ and ‘Dust Management’
Date: Thursday 12 May, 2016
Where: All Seasons Hotel, 171-183 McIvor Road, Bendigo
Time: 9am to 4.00pm
Cost: $125 (Members) – $150 (others)
Morning tea and lunch provided.
The aim is to update and inform participates on the two latest guideline developed by the CMPA.
This will enable you to gain an understanding of how to reduce Geotechnical risks on your site as well as how to improve Dust Management on your site.
Click here to download RSVP form.
Email your RSVP to enquiries@cmpavic.asn.au prior to 28th April 2016
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued a near-miss accident alert about an accident involving a 75-year-old dozer operator who was pushing overburden on a waste pile when the dozer started sliding. The dozer slid 125 feet down the waste pile and came to rest within 25 feet of the water in the pit below. The dozer operator was wearing his seat belt, and was rescued after several hours with no life threatening injuries. (Source: Aggregates Manager)
Surface Traprock – A loader operator was travelling down a 14% sloped roadway in a small articulated open -station loader which was equipped with ROPS and a seat belt. The operator was cleaning a shallow drainage ditch and rebuilding the washed – out berm behind the ditch. While watching the left side of the bucket and trying to maintain grade alignment with the roadway, a 1’ by 1’ by 2’ rock slid between the right side of the bucket and the front tire. The operator did not see the rock and when the right front tire ran over the rock, it caused the loader to tip to the left. The loader landed on the left side in the roadway. The operator was wearing his seat belt and was not injured. (Source: MineEx Safety Alert)
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reports that, on March 22, 2016, a 42-year old lead man with six years of mining experience was fatally injured at a surface limestone mine when he was struck by fly rock from blasting operations. The lead man was parked in his pickup truck at a location approximately 1,200 feet from the blast area to prevent others from accessing the blasting site. – (Source: Aggregates Manager)
Two companies were fined a total of $1.5 million in the Supreme Court last week over the death of a worker who fell 40 metres when a piling rig collapsed at a Melbourne construction site in 2011. (Source: WorkSafe)
A work safety authority has concluded an investigation into the death of a quarry owner whose business was found to be in breach of health and safety laws.
- WorkSafe New Zealand’s investigation related to the death of 56-year-old Murray Taylor, the late owner of Waikari-based limestone quarrying business Heathstock Haulage. Taylor was killed in June 2015 when more than 1000 tonnes of rock fell from a quarry wall, engulfing his 65-tonne excavator.
- “Quarry work is inherently risky unless it is done correctly,” Keith Stewart, WorkSafe New Zealand’s chief inspector of investigations, stated. “In this case, no geotechnical assessment had been carried out to determine the nature of the rock wall. That would have helped identify the safest way to tackle excavation work.”
- Stewart indicated Taylor had breached the New Zealand Health and Safety in Employment Act by failing to put procedures in place to ensure staff were adequately trained, monitored and supervised. It was also determined early on in the investigation that Taylor did not have the certificate of competence legally required of him as a quarry owner.
- WorkSafe New Zealand decided, however, that prosecution was “not in the public interest” as Taylor had been the sole director in charge of quarry work at Heathstock Haulage. “Despite the conclusion that the health and safety law was breached, there would be nothing to be gained from laying charges against Mr Taylor’s company,” Stewart explained.
(Source: Quarry Magazine)
Worker injured by a discharging fire suppression cylinder
A tradesman at a mine processing plant was helping to dismantle a redundant fire suppression system. While he was manoeuvring the cylinder by hand, it suddenly discharged its contents, becoming a violent projectile. The tradesman sustained serious chest, leg and hand injuries. (Source: QLD Govt – Department of Natural Resources and Mines).
The following 17 Codes of Practice have been revised and updated to correct minor technical and drafting errors:
- Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces
- Demolition Work
- Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work
- How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace
- Excavation work
- First Aid in the Workplace
- Spray Painting and Powder Coating
- Labelling of Workplace Hazardous Chemicals
- Preparation of Safety Data Sheets for Hazardous Chemicals
- Managing the Risks of Plants in the Workplace
- Managing Electrical Risks in the Workplace
- Construction Work
- Confined Spaces
- Hazardous Manual Tasks
- How to Safely Remove Asbestos
- Welding Processes
- Preventing Falls in Housing Construction
(Source: Safe Work Australia)
According to WorkSafe statistics, almost 30 per cent of all workplace deaths in Victoria occur on farms, despite the fact that agriculture employs just 3 per cent of Victorian workers. A new campaign will highlight agriculture’s deadly toll and call on farmers to reduce workplace risks by taking a few moments to think about safety before beginning a task or project. (Source: WorkSafe)