Sparks fly as excavator contacts high-voltage line at coal mine

After an excavator at an open-cut coal mine struck an overhead powerline and caused an electrical discharge over the cab, authorities are intensifying safety efforts to ensure mobile plant is effectively routed and supervised around high-voltage infrastructure.

The excavator was tramming between work areas when its boom contacted the suspended dragline cable, which had been in place for several months. The line tripped on earth leakage at the dragline substation, and the operator stopped immediately after seeing sparks. No spotter was guiding the machine as it passed beneath the cable.

In response to the “potentially dangerous” incident, the NSW Resources Regulator, is highlighting the ongoing risk of mobile plant moving through areas where overhead hazards have not been fully assessed or where controls are not consistently applied.

The regulator is urging miners to reconsider road layouts and operating areas to ensure the potential for interaction between machinery and fixed structures is identified early and managed using the hierarchy of controls in the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025, section 36.

Operators are reminded to stay alert to equipment heights when travelling near powerlines and to use a spotter whenever clearances are low.

As part of a safety bulletin released in 2015, mine managers were also advised to provide for adequate supervision and training to ensure operators are aware of procedures should contact be made with powerlines, especially emergency procedures and reference to local energy suppliers for advice.

If contact is made, operators should establish exclusion zones around the plant, which must stay in place for a minimum of 24 hours due to the risk of tyre explosion.