Qld miner wins $1.5m in damages after losing use of left hand in work accident

A Queensland coal miner has been awarded almost $1.5m in damages after his work cost him the use of his left hand.

Deep underground, hampered by limited visibility and dusty conditions, he bounced around on a loader at one of Australia’s biggest coking coal mines.

Little did he know then that the work would cost him the use of his left hand and result in a recent court judgment awarding him nearly $1.5m in damages.

Jamie Lee Tyndall, who left school in the middle of grade 10 and then spent a decade working on a fishing trawler, landed a job in 2011 at the Kestrel coal mine in central Queensland.

By late 2015, he had spent eight fateful months driving a loader between seven and nine hours a day, for most of that time as part of a crew building subterranean roads.

Although he wore a seat belt, the vehicle had little suspension and managed to throw him around quite a bit. As a result, gripping the steering wheel spinner knob or the wheel very tightly became a necessity.

Adding to the challenge, the engine created a constant buzz that Tyndall likened to a “turbocharged ride-on mower”, with every bump feeling as if it was going through him. He described it as similar to the sensation of getting caned.

Kestrel Coal CEO Shane Hansen

By early 2016, he developed blisters, weakness, discolouration and hypersensitivity in his left ring finger. Eventually he was diagnosed with “vibration-induced white finger syndrome” that prevented him from working and he resigned the following year.

Left with agonising pain, Tyndall sued Kestrel Coal seeking compensation in 2019 and the company, headed by boss Shane Hansen, mounted a vigorous defence.

It told the court that Tyndall’s previous history of manual labour and even his heavy smoking could have been to blame. It even suggested his anxiety issues and other pre-existing medical conditions may have been a factor.

But Rockhampton Supreme Court Justice Graeme Crow didn’t buy it. He ruled that Kestrel breached its duty of care to Tyndall and should have limited his time on the loader to no more than two hours per shift.

“He received no training with respect to vibration injuries nor the amount of time he was permitted to work as a loader driver, nor any need to take breaks from loader driving, nor any need to rotate duties,” Crow wrote in his decision handed down in late May.

“What is perhaps more troubling is that even after injury had been noted, Mr Tyndall was re-deployed and worked further on a loader.”

There were no specific findings against Hansen.

It remains unclear whether Kestrel will appeal the decision, which included $875,000 for future economic loss for Tyndall, now aged 50 and living in Hervey Bay.

The Brisbane-based company told City Beat this week it “does not make public comments on any personnel related matters”.

The injury occurred while Rio Tinto had majority ownership of the Bowen Basin mine but the company offloaded its 80 per cent stake for $2.25bn in early 2018, a figure which included workers compensation liabilities.

Kestrel is now controlled by a joint venture comprised of EMR Capital, Adaro Energy and Mitsui Coal. It reported a $6m net profit in the 2020 financial year.

BIGGEST DEAL TO DATE

Two young Brisbane entrepreneurs who have built one of Australia’s fastest growing retail brands just inked what could be their most significant deal to date.

Muscle Nation founders Nathaniel Anthony and Chris Anastasi revealed this week that more than 830 Coles stores nationwide will start stocking their new range of custard protein bars and powders by the middle of this month.

It’s the first deal with a national supermarket chain for the pair, who only launched their business selling activewear, nutritional supplements and accessories in 2016 from a spare bedroom.

Nathaniel Anthony and Chris Anastasi

Now they are based at a 1700 sqm facility at Tingalpa and expect to move to a new 4000 sqm complex nearby later this year.

With a team of about 100 staffers, they sell more than 1000 different products online to customers around the world and supply more than 300 supplement stores across Australia and NZ.

Social media has been key in driving the business, which is followed by more than two million consumers, predominantly women under 35.

Revenues spiked a whopping 89 per cent to $51m in the financial year that just came to a close, up from $27m.

The company expects turnover to grow to about $70m this year.

Muscle Nation plans to donate a percentage of the sales from their protein products at Coles to mental health charities. It hopes to raise $50,000 over the next 12 months, as well as fund 50 new Lifeline “text crisis supporters’’ by December.

CARAVAN WITHOUT WHEELS

THEY liken it to a caravan without wheels and claim it’s the first of its kind.

Australia’s biggest shipping container outfit has just launched the self-contained “Site Hub’’ which it says is ideal for day-use in remote industrial locations off the grid.

Royal Wolf is manufacturing the 12 m long contraptions in Brisbane and have just released them for rent.

With a solar system, generator and 1000-litre water supply, they can accommodate up to 14 people at a time for work or meals.

A self-contained "Site Hub'' made by Royal Wolf for industrial work sites

Brendon Greatrex, a south Queensland regional manager with the firm, said the units are ideal for the mining, construction and road works sectors.

“The deployability of the Site Hub enables our customers to drop these units on the ground anywhere in Australia, without power and without connection to sewers or water,” Greatrex said.

“It enables our customers to work in remote locations and have the amenities their people need to start working and be comfortable from day one.

“As soon as it hits the ground, it’s running.”