Moorvale mine worker trapped 8 hours in dozer rollover

As the hours dragged on, rescuers feared a dozer rollover at a Central Queensland mine would ‘be a recovery job more than a save’. It was the third rollover to disrupt mining operations in a week.

Paramedics were called to a dozer rollover at Moorvale mine at Coppabella, off the Peak Downs Highway at 12.29am Saturday.

A miner was trapped in a dozer cabin for about eight hours after the machine rolled in the early morning at a Central Queensland mine site.

Three ambulance crews raced to Moorvale Mine at Coppabella at 12.30am on Saturday to attend to the trapped worker.

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.

Mr Vickers said the mine site control operation made contact with the miner via radio in the dozer “but after an hour or so that communication line dropped out”.

“I guess at that point in time we weren’t sure if he was still alive or whether there was an electrical issue with the dozer which failed to supply power to the electrical system,” he said.

“The biggest concern was the limited supply of breathable air.”

Asked why the rescue was protracted, Mr Vickers said the dozer was on or among an unstable coal stockpile.

“It took time to stabilise the environment and make sure we didn’t have to rescue rescuers,” he said.

Mr Vickers confirmed a“dehydrated” miner was extricated from the cabin about 8.30am and transported in a stable condition to Moranbah Hospital.

“He is a very lucky man,” he said.

Investigations are ongoing into a dozer incident at Curragh mine (pictured) less than 12 hours before a man was seriously injured at Saraji mine when a dozer reportedly rolled 12 times down the dig face.

The rollover at Moorvale on Saturday morning is the third dozer incident in the Bowen Basin in the past week.

A rescue chopper was required to fly a bulldozer operator to Mackay Base Hospital early Tuesday after the machinery he was operating rolled multiple times at BHP’s Saraji open pit coal mine north of Dysart.

His injuries included five broken ribs, back and pelvis fractures, substantial bruising and cuts over his body.

It is understood the dozer was a Caterpillar D11R and the operator was a longtime employee with BMA.

It is understood operations at the site were temporarily stopped for an emergency response but resumed after the area was made safe and the worker assessed to be in a stable condition.

Less than 12 hours earlier, about 8.30pm Monday, a dozer “trammed backwards into a body of water” while undertaking mining support activities at Curragh mine at Blackwater.

“The operator of the dozer was able to exit the equipment unassisted without injury,” a Curragh mine spokeswoman said.

Resources Safety and Health Queensland are investigating the incidents.

Bulldozer rollover events were a key focus of the RSHQ mine safety wrap for 2022, with a number of serious incidents highlighted.

The RSHQ classifies bulldozer rollovers as preventable ‘high-risk incidents’ that can ‘result in serious injury and death’.

“There have been 10 rollover incidents on Queensland sites since December 2021, including a recent stockpile dozer entrapment incident,” RSHQ said in a safety notice on December 16.

“Three other incidents occurred at surface mines in July, October and November. Six similar incidents occurred between December 2021 and June 2022.

These incidents occurred at nine different surface mines.”

Originally published as Moorvale mine worker trapped 8 hours in dozer rollover