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WA mine truck fatality

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4 years 5 months ago - 4 years 5 months ago #203194 by Roderick Smith
Roderick

Mines warned after fatal Perth haul truck tragedy September 1, 2019
WA mine safety inspectors have urged miners to look at the design of their haul roads following the tragic death of a truck driver at a quarry north of Perth this year.
The driver died after his 110 tonne haul truck fell 15 metres down the pit wall of the Hanson quarry in Red Hill on June 20.
The truck fell 15 metres down the pit wall in June.
An initial Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety investigation into the incident found a number of factors contributed to the accident, including the narrowness of the road and the design of the mound of dirt used as a barrier on the road's edge, known as a windrow.
"At this stage of the investigation, the following is evident: the loaded truck entered a single
lane section of roadway with two narrow points," investigators said. "When it reached the second narrow point, the truck's right side wheels rode up and over the windrow.
"As it straddled the windrow, its forward movement was initially arrested with the right side wheels over the crest edge, but the truck then slid over the edge falling 15 metres to the lower bench."
Inspectors said the 'step-in' reduced the width of the road by 20 per cent for 25 metres and it was on the driver's offside, which reduced his visibility of it.
The size and shape of the windrow, and adjacent material buildup, also assisted the truck's wheels to ride up over it.
Inspectors also noted a lack of demarcation or signage in the area and it occurred between dawn and sunrise when the light was changing, affecting visibility.
The department issued a number of actions for other miners to avoid tragedies such as the Red Hill accident.
"Haul roads should be designed to make it easier for trucks to navigate safely. Blasting and excavating should be planned so as to avoid introducing hazards," inspectors said.
Inspectors encouraged miners to build windrows with the right shape, size and material for the location.
"High risk areas require larger barriers to prevent a vehicle from going over the edge," they said.
"The windrow should delineate where the truck should be on the haul road and be an adequate distance from the edge.
"Design of windrows and traffic management of vehicles operating around windrows should take
into account the angle at which equipment operates and any vehicle blind spots in relation to
the windrow.
"Regularly inspect and maintain windrows and remove any build up of material that would
reduce effective windrow height or provide an intermediate ramp up onto the windrow."
They also said adequate signage and demarcation should be in place and cameras and other sensors should be used for blind spots.
< www.watoday.com.au/national/western-aust...20190901-p52mtj.html >



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Last edit: 4 years 5 months ago by Roderick Smith. Reason: Put a space between the photos.

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4 years 5 months ago #203196 by Morris
Replied by Morris on topic WA mine truck fatality

Roderick Smith wrote: Roderick

the loaded truck entered a single
lane section of roadway with two narrow points," investigators said. "
when the light was changing, affecting visibility.
The department issued a number of actions for other miners to avoid tragedies such as the Red Hill accident.
roads should be designed to make it easier for trucks to navigate safely.
the edge.







This is my first attempt at quoting so I may have made mistakes but the wording I am trying to quote is from the investigators report into the western Australia mine road death, as reported by Roderick.

What a pity our public road authorities, in my case VicRoads, or as they have now called themselves "Country Roads Victoria" do not follow these recommendations.

Morris.

I have my shoulder to the wheel,
my nose to the grindstone,
I've put my best foot forward,
I've put my back into it,
I'm gritting my teeth,

Now I find I can't do any work in this position!

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4 years 5 months ago - 4 years 5 months ago #203198 by Lang
Replied by Lang on topic WA mine truck fatality
A coroner always has to say something to rectify a situation, very often totally impractical or economically nonviable'

Why did the driver run off a road at 20kph on a section he had probably passed 500 times before? Bored, sleepy, distracted by a radio call or something else, on the phone? All the talk is about windrows which are like guardrails, only there in case something goes wrong. Where are the human factor investigations to see why he went anywhere near the windrow (and didn't react immediately he hit it) in the first place?

If you look at the photo you can see the roadway in use was 3 metres from the windrow at the spot he went over, why did he get so far off-track. Changing light at those speeds? If that is the case half the interstate truck fleet travelling at 100kph should be in ditches every sunrise.

Then again in WA like in the song "Road to Mandalay" the "Sun comes up like thunder 0'er the bay" and dazzled him like a camera flash.

Lang
Last edit: 4 years 5 months ago by Lang.

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