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Workers reminded to wear seatbelt after truck rolls over

DNRM truck rollover
DNRM truck rollover

Mine workers have been reminded to wear a seatbelt while operating or driving vehicles.

The Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM) is asking all mine workers to wear a seatbelt while operating or driving a vehicle. It comes after a trainee operator was thrown from the cabin during a truck roll over accident.

The trainee had been reversing a 27-tonne articulated dump truck to tip a load of wet sand in a stockpile area. However, the right-hand rear wheels rode up onto the edge of an existing stockpile and the load in the tub shifted, tipping the trailer onto its side and rocking the cab violently.

The operator was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the incident and was thrown about in the cab, first striking and breaking the driver’s window and then striking, breaking and falling through the passenger side window to the ground. The operator suffered lacerations to his arm and head which required hospital treatment.

“Unfortunately incidents where the tubs of articulated trucks have tipped over during tipping are too common and the Department has previously issued Safety Alert #276 – Articulated Dump Truck Rollover,” DNRM chief inspector of mines Phil Goode says.

“The risks of operating articulated trucks are generally well-understood and most operations combine operator training, procedures and standard work instructions to control these. However, investigations into tipping incidents regularly find effectiveness of controls compromised by the operation’s failure to implement and enforce them.”

DNRM recommends:

  • trainees gaining operation experience must be always adequately supervised to ensure relevant site procedures and requirements are being followed.
  • ensure operator training covers hazards of driving, including reversing, over terrain that can affect the cross grade and lead to instability of the vehicle.
  • site senior executives and supervisors must ensure site rules and procedures are effective and enforced
  • mine operators must ensure audits of the safety and health management system focus on the effectiveness of the hazard controls, associated procedures and standard work instructions

DNRM asks all proponents to place this announcement on noticeboards and ensure all relevant people receive a copy: www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/mining/safety-and-health/alerts-bulletins-search/alerts-bulletins/mines-safety/driver-thrown-from-cab-in-articulated-truck-roll-over

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