Ambulance crews race to dozer rollover at BHP Blackwater mine

RSHQ will investigate how an excavator tipped on to its side at BHP’s Blackwater mine over the Easter weekend.

BMA Blackwater Mine

Resources Safety and Health Queensland has confirmed it is investigating a rollover at a massive Central Queensland mine over the Easter weekend.

An excavator tipped on to its side at BHP’s Blackwater mine on April 8.

The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon and two ambulance crews raced to the scene after receiving a call-out to the mine at 5.34pm.

It is understood the operator may have suffered injuries in the rollover.

The miner was taken to Blackwater Hospital for further treatment.

A BMA spokesman said the worker was receiving care.

“Site teams provided immediate support to the operator, who was taken to hospital for pre-cautionary scans before being released,” he said.

“Our priority is their health and wellbeing and we will continue to support them.

“We are investigating this incident.”

BHP's Blackwater coal operations. Picture: BHP

This week, RSHQ confirmed it was also looking into the incident.

“RSHQ is aware of an incident at Blackwater BHP mine,” an RSHQ spokeswoman said.

“Our inspectors are investigating and making follow up inquiries with the mine.

Central Queensland’s mining sector has been hit by a series of rollovers this year.

Within a fortnight across January and February, five machinery rollovers were reported in the Bowen Basin.

At the Moorvale mine near Coppabella on January 28, a miner was trapped in a dozer cabin for about eight hours after the machine rolled in the early morning.

Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor Ross Vickers said Moranbah crews who attended were unable to see the cabin of the dozer which was “buried” under rubble.

“As the hours dragged on, most people expected it to be a recovery job more than a save,” he said.

Rescue crews extricated the dehydrated miner from the cabin and QAS personnel took him in a stable condition to Moranbah Hospital.

Each incident was flagged with RSHQ, the sector’s independent regulator, which has since issued compliance directives to mine operators to manage risk to workers to an acceptable level.