Dashcam footage has been released showing a bulldozer nearly crush a ute at a Central Queensland mine, near Moranbah.
The video shows the ute driver attempting to move out of the bulldozer’s way before being hit and pushed three metres across the site.
Luckily, the ute driver escaped injury despite the side of the vehicle receiving significant damage.
Resources Safety and Health Queensland Chief Inspector of Coal Mines Jacques le Roux said there was a significant risk of a fatality for an event that could have been avoided.
“Worryingly, our initial investigation has shown that the incident occurred because operators were routinely parking in an undocumented position to do crib time driver swaps,” Mr le Roux said.
“Even though it was not the designated location to stop and swap operators, over time it had become normalised as the location and that created danger.
“What should have been a simple driver swap almost turned into a fatality because of a sequence of failures including a failure to establish positive communication and not following proper procedures.”
Mr le Roux reminded site senior executives (SSEs) at Queensland mines to review and enforce parking procedures and to implement safe work instructions for hot seat changeouts.
He said sites should ensure the application of the 50/30 rule as it applies to entering stockpile areas:
- Communicate at 50 metres.
- Establish positive two-way communication with the machine operator or site supervisor.
- Stop vehicle at 30 metres.
- Park your vehicle outside the 30-metre exclusion zone.
