WorkSafe

FQM Australia Nickel Pty Ltd was today fined $35,000 in the Esperance Magistrates Court after a ruptured tank spilled more than 10,000 litres of hot acidic slurry at the company’s Ravensthorpe nickel operations.

In May 2017, a field technician working on top of the processing tank had to jump across a three-metre drop to avoid the slurry that had burst through the tank’s fibreglass roof.

The spray from the mixture contacted his clothing and the skin on his lower back and face.

Mining operator fined after telehandler and load fall

FQM Australia Nickel Pty Ltd was today fined $19,000 in the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court following an incident where a telehandler rolled over endangering two workers at the Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine on 11 January 2017.

The mining operator pleaded guilty after being charged with failing to provide a safe working environment under the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 (WA).

Indus Mining Services Pty Ltd was today fined $60,000 and ordered to pay $6,000 in costs over the death of a contractor who suffered a severe allergic reaction after being stung by a bee in February 2018.  
 
The 34-year-old engineering surveyor was working alone at Iluka Resources' Cataby mine site around 150km north of Perth.  
 

The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) reminds workers to guard against the effects of extreme temperatures in work environments following a forecast of above-average temperatures this summer.

DMIRS Director Mines Safety Andrew Chaplyn said the extremes of Western Australia's climate means heat stress is a significant risk that needs to be managed across mining and exploration operations.

• The 15th annual Mines Safety Roadshow kicks off in Kalgoorlie today
• Roadshow will visit 11 locations across WA during October and November

Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston has welcomed the annual Mines Safety Roadshow and its focus on promoting on-site risk awareness.

Hosted by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, the month-long series of roadshows starts in Kalgoorlie, before travelling across nine other Western Australian cities and towns.

• Work Health and Safety Excellence Awards 2019 winners announced
• The Awards recognise outstanding innovations and solutions to specific workplace health and safety issues by individuals, groups or organisations

The eight winners of the inaugural Work Health and Safety Excellence Awards 2019 were announced at Optus Stadium this morning. They include:

Ron Addison was driving a triple road train delivering a load of fuel from the Linfox depot in Port Hedland to BHP’s Yandi mine site. The unsealed access road to the Yandi site had been flooded by rain in the days prior to the incident causing significant damage with potholes and mounds of dirt across the surface.

Dangerous Goods Licensing processes applications for:

Rema Tip Top Material Processing (Rema) and Chichester Metals Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group Limited (FMG) have been fined $112,000 and $64,000 respectively in Perth Magistrates Court following an incident that broke a worker’s jaw at the Cloudbreak iron ore mine in the Pilbara in September 2014.

While both companies were charged in relation to the same incident, Chichester were not charged for causing the injuries suffered as a result of the incident.