Pilbara incident reinforces mining contractors’ safety obligations
Regulators have urged mining and construction contractors to tighten load-restraint practices and follow operating procedures without exception following a fatal transport incident in July 2022 in Western Australia.
WorkSafe Commissioner Sally North said the incident serves as a reminder of the importance of closely following operating procedures, especially when transporting large items of plant.
“None of the companies took all reasonably practicable measures to reduce the risk of an incident of this type,” she said.
North’s comments come after three companies were fined a combined $770,000 and ordered to pay $16,000 in costs over the death of the truck driver involved in the incident.
Resource Operations and Maintenance Services, Diverse Management Services and Technologies International Group (trading as Welltech Total Water Management) last month pleaded guilty in the Perth Magistrates Court to failing to ensure the health and safety of others was not put at risk.
The companies had all contributed to earthworks at a Pilbara mine, where a MegaFill water pump – a mobile unit with two extendable booms – was used. Those booms must be secured with multiple restraints for transport, including chains, straps and travel bolts.
When earthworks finished, Diverse arranged for trucking company RGR Road Haulage to return the pump to Perth. The demobilisation did not follow the operating procedure supplied by the hire company, and workers only placed a ratchet strap over the intake boom, omitting the required chain and travel bolt. Resource Operations and Diverse also failed to ensure workers had the operating procedure or complied with it.
As the semi-trailer travelled along Great Northern Highway, the strap failed and the intake boom became unrestrained, striking a truck travelling in the opposite direction and fatally injuring its driver.
After the incident, Technologies International developed a new restraint system to prevent boom movement during transport. Investigators found it had been reasonably practicable to install such engineering controls earlier.
“The two companies that had a role in securing the pump did not take steps to make sure that it was secured according to the operating procedure supplied by the hiring company,” North said.