Australian Mine Safety Journal is digital publication on mining industry

OPINION  There is no doubt that there are some safety challenges facing the mining industry in Australia. While it’s clear that there are pockets of excellence with some outstanding initiatives being undertaken by individuals, unions, governments and companies alike, there are also many challenges being faced by parties to realise their own safety goals. As we begin in 2019, it’s a great time to ask ourselves, have we finally reached our safety destination or are we still on the journey ? Over the last three-four months the Australian mining industry has seen a major train wreck, a mine catch fire, a driver killed in a speeding haul truck crash and sadly as the year finished, a dozer operator plummet off a bench at Queensland coal mine…just to name a few. In the midst these incidents, there’s been a raft or serious workplace injuries and near misses. Some of which will see injured operators never returning to the pit. When you read the detail, many of these inci...