NSW mining innovators taking safety to a new level

Miners from across the state’s mining regions have been awarded top honours at the NSW Minerals Council Health and Safety Innovation Awards.

The achievements of these miners were celebrated in front of over 400 of their peers at this month’s awards dinner, showcasing some of the best new examples of leading practices, devices and systems from across NSW.

NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said that the winners reflected the priority modern mining operations place on safety and innovation, and confirms the world-class status of our NSW mining sector.

“Our innovation awards encourage NSW miners to identify areas where health and safety can be improved and then develop and roadtest solutions that can be adopted at other operations,” Galilee said. “All award entries were of a high standard and the end results are many tools, applications and techniques that have the potential to be shared across the industry and the community,” he said.

The winners are:

Innovation Award
Fit For Purpose Underground Boot
Centennial Coal

The solution addressed the inadequacies of currently available footwear for use in wet underground mines. ‘Gumboots’ protect against water but lack ankle and arch support, have poor levels of wearer comfort and generate excessive heat within the boot. Leather boots provide ankle and arch support; however, they are unable to prevent water leaking into the boot. With the assistance of Blundstone, personnel at Centennial designed and tested a new-generation boot that provides high levels of support and stability control while being extremely comfortable and preventing all water ingress.

“The Fit For Purpose Underground Boot from Centennial Coal fundamentally changes how a mining boot is made and addresses an age-old health and safety problem. Centennial nailed the risk management process and understood the detail from the problem through to the solution,” NSW Department of Resources and Energy Director of Mine Safety Operations Rob Regan said.

People’s Choice & Highly Commended
BREASI Valve
Ashton Coal Operations

The BREASI Valve is designed to prevent the inadvertent movement of an underground diesel machine while an external compressed air line is attached. It ensures that the park brake remains applied when an air line is attached, thereby preventing a machine being driven off with the air line attached and consequently reduces the potential risk of injury to persons from an uncontrolled release of compressed air or a recoiling hose.

Highly Commended
Remote High Voltage Switching
Centennial Coal Newstan

Through the implementation of an engineered control, Newstan Colliery has eliminated the potential for injury to operators by the design and installation of a mechanical remote operating panel that is located outside of the arc blast risk zone and out of direct line of sight. The design allows the operator to safely operate the ‘no volt coil’ and the ‘close circuit’ function from a safe remote location.