Following normal procedure, the inspectorate did not reveal the names of the companies or operations involved.

 

Serious safety incidents in the underground coal sector in the three-month period included a slab of rock falling on a light vehicle parking bay near an underground crib room.

 

In a larger gravity mishap, the inspectorate said 35 tonnes of rock fell from the shoulder of a drive against the rear of an operating cablebolting rig.

 

The inspectorate also detailed a mechanical accident.

 

“When a hose caught on an underground loader canopy the operator reached out of the cab to lift it out of the way,” the inspectorate said.

 

“As he did so the machine moved and tilted, trapping his wrist against the wall and fracturing his forearm.”

 

In a couple of incidents that revealed explosion risks in the three-month period, a continuous miner cable showed arcing damage on pins after the cable failed in operation, while at one site NERZ methane monitors were set to trip at 1.25% when they were required to be at 0.5%.

 

The inspectorate said the setting error was found during routine calibration.

 

An electrical accident had two workers receiving an electric shock while they were hosing out and around the boom lift cylinder of a shuttle car.

 

In the “other” category of safety incidents, an underground serviceman who was helping to install a pump suffered dehydration and ended up in hospital.

 

There were a total of 353 incidents in Queensland’s mining industry during the period.

 

Some 73 incidents were vehicle collisions, followed by 63 thermal fire incidents and 47 mechanical incidents.