Total incidents for the month came in at 168, with 24 attributable to fire and 18 to explosions. This compares with fire’s 34 and explosion’s 15 incidents on a yearly average basis.
Most of the fire incidents that occurred were above ground and were quickly dealt with.
In one incident a fire started in the engine bay of a Caterpillar 992 loader. The operator shut the loader down and activated the on-board fire suppression. Two hand-held fire extinguishers also had to be used to put the fire out.
A fire in the wiring in an electrical cabinet at the rear of the engine bay of a Hitachi 3600 excavator was extinguished by the operator using a hand- held extinguisher in another incident.
Hydraulic oil from a failed position 2 ride strut on a Cat 789 dump truck sprayed over the engine and turbo and ignited. The on board fire suppression was activated and extinguished the fire.
In another incident a small fire started on the exhaust of a Cat R2900 loader while being re-fuelled in an underground re-fuelling station when diesel leaked from a crack in the fuel tank onto the exhaust.
But the number of underground explosions or potential explosion incidents was more worrying.
In one incident a shuttle car in a two car panel left the feeder breaker heading back to the continuous miner. As it rounded a corner, the car crushed the other car’s cable, creating an arc flash.
In another incident a shuttle car was incorrectly anchored following a services advance. When car was moved the power cable dragged across the hungry board, cutting the cable and created an arc flash.
In another incident an arc flash occurred in a continuous miner power cable when the shuttle car unexpectedly moved forward crushing the cable between the two machines.
Lapses in gas monitoring procedure were also of concern.
Following routine calibration checks of a NERZ/ERZ methane monitor the monitor was placed back into normal service. The oncoming shift found the sensor still in bypass mode.
In another incident a routine gas calibration of a methane monitor on a continuous miner found that the power would not trip. The gas sensor had been replaced three days earlier without a gas trip test being performed and the trip was set to ten times the required trip point.
An Eimco ED7 loader was sent to the surface workshop because of a damaged flameproof enclosure and tagged out of service. Subsequently the tag was removed so the loader could be used for a job on the surface and then it was taken back underground without the enclosure being repaired.
