Miners were working without safety harnesses before fatal fall, inquest told

TWO miners who fell to their death in the Mt Lyell mine were not wearing harnesses at the time but very few who carried out the “routine maintenance procedure” did, an inquest has been told.

Three workers lost their lives in two separate incidents at the Mt Lyell copper mine.

TWO miners who fell to their death down a shaft in the Mt Lyell mine in 2013 were not wearing harnesses at the time but very few who carried out the “routine maintenance procedure” did, an inquest has been told.

On day two of the inquest into the deaths of Alistair Lucas and Craig Gleeson, underground maintenance supervisor Rodney Hine told Coroner Simon Cooper that nine out of 10 workers would be harnessed as they put the wooden operating platform in place but most unclipped once they were working from it.

The pair were on the platform to replace a flask linkage assembly, a maintenance job performed about every six months.

Mr Lucas, 25, and Mr Gleeson, 45, fell after a piece of equipment landed on the 12.7cm thick pine platform, causing it to break.

The copper mine has since replaced the wooden platform with a metal one at a cost of $1700.

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The inquest also heard a skip bin usually placed under the platform — which would have stopped the men plummeting 22m down the shaft — was not in place the day they died.

Mr Gleeson was killed when he hit the ground, while the younger miner died in the ambulance on the way to the West Coast Hospital.

“We felt safe on the platform. The task was not considered to be particularly hazardous,” Mr Hine told the inquest.

“Once the boards were there, it felt like you were on solid ground. You did not feel invincible but you did feel safe.”

Mr Hine said it would have been better if the service of the skip bin had been delayed to ensure it remained in the shaft but “more often than not” it was taken away even if there were workers above.

Darren Quinn, another underground supervisor, said he was on his way down to see how Mr Lucas and Mr Gleeson were going when he received word there had been an accident.

Mr Quinn said employees were trusted to do the right thing but no one checked before they undertook the task that all safety procedures had been carried out.

Mr Quinn told Mr Cooper that those working on the platform often gave it the “wiggle test” to ensure it was securely in place.

He said he, too, would unclip his harness once on the platform because he felt safe and harnesses made it more difficult to carry out the work required.

Copper Mines of Tasmania has already pleaded guilty to failing to provide a safe workplace in relation to the deaths of Mr Lucas and Mr Gleeson.

The inquiry continues in Hobart on Wednesday and will also examine the death of Michael Welsh, who was killed in a mudslide at Mt Lyell just six weeks after the double fatality.

Charges against CMT in relation to Mr Welsh’s death were dismissed in 2016.