Mine injury triggers high-pressure equipment alert

A grease injection incident at an open-cut coal mine in Central Queensland has prompted a reminder to the industry to review the safety and compliance of high-pressure lubrication equipment.

While servicing a light vehicle inside the mine’s workshop, the worker involved in the incident was lubricating a leaf spring bush assembly using an 18V cordless grease gun when the grease pump hose failed near the grease coupler. The sudden release of energy resulted in a grease injection injury to the worker’s left thumb.

According to Resources Safety & Health Queensland (RSHQ), the cordless grease gun did not meet minimum safety requirements. The flexible grease hose fitted to the tool had been modified and was not compliant with current standards, which require hose assemblies to have a safety factor of at least 4:1.

The installed hose had an assessed safety factor of approximately 1.2:1, based on a maximum working pressure of 10,000 psi. The hose failed at the connection between the hose and fitting at the coupler end, which RSHQ said is a known stress and kink point.

Additionally, spring guards were not fitted at either end of the hose, increasing the risk of failure during high-pressure operation.

RSHQ also found that the mine’s ‘Management of Change’ process was not applied to the replacement or modification of the hose. As a result, maximum working pressures were not assessed or verified, and the replacement hose was not confirmed as compliant with minimum safety factor requirements.

Following the incident, RSHQ is urging operators to take action and ensure associated risks are appropriately mitigated. This includes discontinuing the use of cordless grease guns until compliance with current standards is verified, auditing grease guns and similar fluid power equipment, reviewing inspection and maintenance programs for high-pressure hoses, assessing contractor-supplied hydraulic tooling, reviewing emergency response arrangements for injection injuries, and reviewing personal protective equipment for workers exposed to high-pressure fluid hazards.