SAFETY UPDATE (Issue 20)

Driller Trips and Slides Four Metres Down Face

Following on from the recent CMPA Mobile Plant Workshop, below is a summary of an incident similar to those discussed. This is a perfect example of how minor details can potentially cause serious accidents.

Situation: Surface Drilling
Type: Hard Rock Quarry

A hydraulic drill operator walking between his left drill rig track and the edge of an access ramp he was drilling, slipped and slid four metres down the face to the level below. His descent was softened by loose material at the bottom of the face. He strained his knee.

The access ramp being removed had a three metre drop in front of the drill rig, increasing to about four metres on its left hand side. The driller was collaring the last front line hole which was a corner hole.

Because the drill cradle was on the right hand side of the carrier, the rig was positioned parallel to and with its left track as close as possible (less than one metre away), to the edge of the ramp. The operator was returning from the front of the drill to his cabin, when he slipped.

CAUSE

• The driller was working near two edges and the ground was sloping.
• The height of the face was deceptive, because it was gradually increasing and had loose rocks at the bottom.
• The drill rig was aligned parallel to the side edge of the ramp. Because the boom was not slewed to the left, the left drill track was as close as possible to the edge, leaving little room to access the drill cabin.
• The driller had to get out of his cabin to place drill fines into the hole when collaring.

REMEDIAL ACTION

• Utilise the slew and extension movement of the boom.
• Position the drill at an angle to the edge, affording more room to work beside the track

Harness ‘only’ way to avoid risk: cmn

Wearing a safety belt while operating heavy machinery was the “only and essential” way to eliminate the risk of injury at a crushing plant, NSW IR Cmn Justice Frank Marks has held. He acknowledged the defendants, Metropolitan Administrative Services Pty Ltd and Metropolitan Demotions & Recycling Plt Ltd, created a system of work that required operators to wear harnesses, and that they gave warnings when operators were seen without them. Warnings were “especially” given to experienced operator Harry Sagiotis “from time to time.”

Sagiotis was regarded by his employer as the permanent operator of a mobile rock crushing machine, known as a Loko track, between 1993 and 2001. On August 18 2001, he sustained fatal injuries after becoming trapped in the crushing jaws of the machine. He was not wearing a safety belt.

Justice Marks said it was clear that operating the machine created an “inherently unsafe situation.” Sagiotis exacerbated the risk of overbalancing after he raised the level of the service platform so he could more comfortably lean over the skirting to watch the material travel along the conveyor to the crushing jaws.

Metropolitan Demotions & Recycling had previously lowered the platform by 100mm. “Because of the necessity to lean over…whilst the crushing jaws were continuing to operate there was an inherent risk of danger,” Justice Marks said. “Therefore, the use of a safety harness was the only and essential means by which the risk of injury could be eliminated.”

He noted Sagiotis was regarded as an expert in the operation and maintenance of the Loko track. He had been properly trained and trained other employees about the equipment. He reaffirmed that an employer’s OHS obligation extended to “even experienced employees,” because it included circumstances when they were “inattentive, careless or indifferent to risks to their safety.”

By pleading guilty, Metropolitan Demolition & Recycling conceded it had breached s16 of the OHS Act 1983 in allowing the distance between the top of the skirting and the bottom of the services platform to be lowered so as to increase the risk of overbalancing, he said.

Metropolitan Demolition & Recycling, which faced a maximum penalty of $825,000, was fined $86,400.

Reprinted courtesy of Occupational Health News, published by Thomson, phone: 03 9205 0681

FATALITY REPORTS

MAN DIES IN DRILL RIG ACCIDENT—US
A drilling platform worker was killed when working on a drilling platform on a rig when a cable hoisting a 10-1/2” casing broke. The casing fell and fatally struck the worker who died at the scene.

DUMP TRUCK KILLS WORKER—US
A construction worker was killed after he was crushed beneath the wheels of a dump truck. The dump truck was backing up and didn’t see him directing traffic.

WORKER DIES IN FRONT END LOADER CRUSHING—NSW
An earth moving contractor died at a farm after being pinned under a front-end loader for about seven hours.

DEATH OF WORKER AT CEMENT PLANT—US
An operator died when he got caught in a 42-inch conveyor belt.

MINING FATALITY—QLD
A driller received fatal injuries when he and his air-trac drill fell over the face at a small open cut mine. The driller received extensive head and leg injuries from his 21 metre fall from which he died.

CONFINED SPACES—VIC
The body of a worker was found in a sewer pit pipeline. This incident underlines the dangers faced by entering enclosed areas where the atmosphere may have unsafe oxygen levels or harmful contaminants.

WOMAN CUT IN HALF—AFRICA
Four people died and three were critically injured when contract workers during their lunch break boarded a bulldozer which soon got out of control throwing all seven people off.

WORKER FOUND DEAD IN TUBE—NSW
A man died after being swept away on a conveyor belt and lodged in a three-foot-diameter tube at a clean earth plant. It is possible that man suffered a heart attach or was suffocated.

WORKER KILLED IN RIG ACCIDENT—US
A worker was working on a rig in the area of the draw works when he slipped and his foot was caught in the cable. The worker died at the scene.

INCIDENT REPORTS

FALL FROM ELEVATED WORK PLATFORM
Two men were injured when they fell from an EWP at an underground mine when the basket tipped over and they fell two metres to the ground.

CONVEYOR COLLAPSES DUE TO ROPE FAILURE
Repeated loading and corrosive conditions combined with inadequate inspection and maintenance led to the failure of a rope which caused an entire conveyor structure to fall.

WORKER INJURED AFTER DRIVING INTO PIT—US
A 75-year-old man was operating a loader and pushing refuse into a 15-foot deep pit. He accidentally drove the loader right into the pit and was flown to hospital with serious injuries.

UNSAFE FLAMEPROOF ENCLOSURE OVERHAULED AUXILIARY FAN
An overhauled auxiliary fan was installed in a hazardous zone in a coal mine while the motor terminal enclosure was not properly flameproof.

FIRE IN ENGINE BAY
A fire started in the engine bay of CAT scraper when a hydraulic hose blew and sprayed oil onto the turbo.

DAMAGE TO UTILITY
A fitter parked his utility beside an excavator he was repairing. Upon finishing the repairs he was returning to his vehicle when a nearby truck drove straight over it.

UNCONTROLLED MATERIAL FALL FROM HIGHWALL
A haul truck was being loaded when there was uncontrolled movement of material from the highwall. The material impacted the side of the truck.

FACE COLLAPSE
A dozer was side cutting the toe of an overburden face when the face collapsed. The material covered the right hand front portion of the machine including half way up the cabin door. The glass panel caved in injuring the operator.

LOADER ROLLS OFF FLOAT
A loader rolled off the float it was being transported on and travelled 100m before coming to rest.

FLYROCK INCIDENT
A flyrock incident was reported when using a penetrating cone fracture cartridge to break oversize rocks on the surface. Property damage was caused by the flyrock 70—80m away.

FAILURE OF A QUICK HITCH MECHANISM
A person was seriously injured while working in a trench when a bucket detached from an excavator and fell into the trench striking the person.

ELECTRICAL EXPLOSION
A man was injured when he suffered burns to his right arm and the right side of his face after he received a high voltage flash burn from an electrical switch box.

DRILL RIG ROLLOVER
A 17 tonne drill rig was being trammed between drilling areas by a trainee operator when the rollover occurred.

WATER TRUCK INCIDENT
A water tanker was being returned to the workshop for maintenance. On turning the corner near a water pad the tank rolled onto its side.

FINGERTIP CUT OFF
An operator used his hand to clean grout away from the cylinder drain hole of an operating grout pump. The fingertip of his index finger entered the drain hole when the pump piston was on the upstroke and cut off his fingertip.

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