Rock fall that killed miner at Savage River was without warning, coroner finds

The rock fall that tragically killed a husband, father and former British Royal Marine at a Savage River mine was without warning, a coroner has found.

A ROCK fall that killed a former British Royal Marine while he was scaling an iron ore mine at Savage River occurred without warning, a coroner has found.

Nathaniel Owen Beesley, 32, died in March 2017 from crush injuries at the Grange Resources mine, located about 100km southwest of Burnie.

In his findings handed down on Thursday, Coroner Simon Cooper said Mr Beesley was working as a member of a four-man roping team, carrying out scaling operations at the mine – “obviously an activity which has inherent risks”.

Mr Cooper said scaling was the process of removing loose and dangerous rocks from the face of a wall – a proactive safety measure to reduce the risk of uncontrolled rock fall.

The coroner noted WorkSafe Tasmania Inspector Craig Sault said the “only way to absolutely avoid the high level of residual risk which attaches to manual scaling” was “not to scale”.

Mr Beesley – who’d survived two tours of Afghanistan – had moved to Australia with his wife and their two young sons only a year before the rock fall that claimed his life.

He had been working for the specialising mining and civil engineering services company SRG, contracted by operator Grange Resources, while waiting to be transferred from the British defence force to the Australian Army.

His body was recovered four days after the rock fall.

Nathaniel Beesley, pictured with wife Katie, died in a mining rock fall in March 2017.

Mr Cooper said there was “no evidence, at all” to support a finding that anyone from SRG “or anyone for that matter” had any specific concerns relevant to the risk of rock fall on the day in question.

“In fact, the opposite is the case,” he said.

“(They) all gave evidence that they considered all appropriate safety protocols and requirements had been addressed and that there was nothing that gave any cause for particular concern in the immediate lead up to Mr Beesley’s death.”

Mr Cooper also said there was no evidence that anyone from the scaling team dislodged the rock that killed Mr Beesley.

The coroner said he was satisfied there was “no reasonable alternative” or “indeed any alternative” to carrying out the task of manual scaling.

However, he noted that since Mr Beesley’s death, a “fit-for-purpose machine” had been developed, and at the time of the inquest, was currently undergoing its final field trials.

Grange Resources Savage River iron ore mine.

Mr Cooper also suggested that regulations be amended to mandate mining operators to have hazard management plans in place with respect to ground and strata instability.

He also recommended a mine safety steering committee meet as soon as practical to consider the amendment of regulations.

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