Friday, March 18, 2011

Safety: Anglo coal mine shut down

The Construction, Forestry and Mining Union (CFMEU) has blasted Anglo Coal for "extremely" poor safety after operations at two Central Queensland mines were shut down due to two accidents within 24 hours.
A dump truck and a ute collided at Dawson coal mine, Moura, yesterday morning.
At the Callide coal mine, near Biloela, a bulldozer was buried during excavation on Thursday night.
No one was injured in either accident.
The Queensland Government's chief inspector of coal mines Gavin Taylor said the department had suspended operations because of the mines "ineffective safety and health management systems".
He said both mines would remain suspended until management could satisfy inspectors that work could go ahead without unacceptable risk.
Chris Gilbert, a CFMEU organiser, said the systems Anglo Coal had in place for addressing hazards had not been working.
Mr Gilbert said half of their investigations into accidents blamed "operator error".
Workers were also being asked to do jobs that would have been deemed too unsafe 20 years ago.
Mr Gilbert said in both accidents it was "extremely lucky" that no one was hurt.
"They need to stop and look at what's going on," he said.