Digger rolled at Saraji open cut mine

A digger has rolled at a Bowen Basin mine. This comes eight months after strengthened safety amendments within the coal mining industry.

A digger rolled at Saraji mine on Sunday afternoon, July 16.

A digger has rolled at Saraji mine while being operated by a trainee worker.

This comes as more high potential mining incidents are being reported in what is being labelled “as a sign of a strong reporting culture”.

This latest incident occurred in the afternoon on July 16 at the BMA-operated open cut mine.

Two people had been on the heavy machinery with one suffering a minor injury.

It is understood a trainer had been instructing a trainee, who had been operating the EX5600 excavator at the time of the fall.

BMA's Saraji Coal Mine near Moranbah

It is further understood it is the second digger to fall off a bench at the mine site within about 12 months and is also about eight months after strengthened amendments to the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999.

A BMA spokesman confirmed the incident occurred on Sunday afternoon.

“An excavator tipped onto its side at Saraji,” the spokesman said.

“The operators were able to safely exit the machine. One suffered a minor injury.”

The BMA spokesman said excavator operations were suspended while additional safety checks were carried out.

Photo of a digger that rolled at Saraji mine on Sunday afternoon, July 16.

“The safety of our team is always our first priority. We are investigating this incident,” he said.

Just 4.5 years ago, Saraji was the scene of a fatality when the dozer Gracemere father Allan Houston was operating rolled 18m down an embankment and he drowned in a pool of mud on December 31, 2018.

Resources Minister Scott Stewart said there had been an “an increase in industry reported high potential incidents in recent months”.

“I, with the regulator, encourage industry to report high potential incidents or near misses, to demonstrate that mines are identifying these incidents for corrective action,” Mr Scott said.

On December 31, 2018 Allan Houston died when his bulldozer turned over at BMA’s Saraji mine, near Moranbah.

As a result he said he expected there to be a higher rate of reported high potential incidents over time “as a sign of a strong reporting culture”.

“I am also looking to see the rate of serious accidents decrease as a result of mines learning from high potential incidents and putting better protections for workers in place,” he said.

“The regulator continues to work with mines to ensure they are investigating near miss events to identify improvements for the safety of workers.”

In November 2022 there were amendments to the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 to ensure anyone “in safety critical roles at coal mines could raise concerns about safety without fear for their employment”.

“It is about ensuring workers are safe and that they can confidently report incidents when they occur and take action to prevent incidents that result in serious injury or illness to workers,” Mr Scott said.

This publication reached out to Resources Safety and Health Queensland for comment.