A haul truck driver killed at Paraburdoo Channar mine last month was travelling at 79 km/h when his fully loaded Komatsu 830E A/C haul truck left the ramp and hit a windrow in a designated 20 km/h zone.
The inclined ramp was part of the haul road from the pit operations to the crusher. The ramp had a down grade between 8% and 10%, and a length from crest to toe of 1250 m. There was a gradual right hand curve at the toe of the ramp.
According to early incident reports released by DMIRS, the haul truck driver killed was 28 year old Daniel Patterson. Daniel passed away from injuries sustained during the horrific accident. Alerts issued by DMIRS stated that the data recording taken from the truck indicated that the service brake had not been applied during the descent.
Daniel’s death follows another similar incident at the site in June this year where a haul truck run into a windrow during normal operating conditions.
Unions say that the site is plagued with safety problems that aren’t getting addressed, citing a worker losing a finger-tip during a machine greasing and a grader catching fire. In 2016, 32-year-old diesel fitter Lee Buzzard was also killed at the site while working on a drill head.
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Union organiser Jeff Carig said workers felt the company was not acting in a spirit of consultation and co-operation around safety.
“The culture at Paraburdoo is that if a worker raises concerns about safety, they fear intimidation and victimisation for doing so,” he said.
“They (Rio) say they have a process in place for dealing with safety concerns but our members are telling us the reality is much different.” Mr Carig also said Rio had recently increased the standard haul-truck speed across all its Pilbara sites from 40km/h to 60km/h, despite workers’ concerns that it presented a threat to life and truck.
Rio has advised that it has mandated speed limits for flat haulage. These are aligned with industry practice but a 20km/h speed limit was in place for loaded downhill hauling across all its iron ore sites.
DMIRS have advised sites across WA specific requirements for operation of electric haul trucks on ramps. Specifically sites should:
- Conduct a risk assessment for each ramp to determine the safe operating parameters for the truck in accordance with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) standards.
- Consider installing a road feature such as a chicane or an intersection ahead of the crest as an engineering control to force the operator to slow down before the ramp.
- Evaluate the location and type of speed warning devices.
Retard speed control devices should be engaged during the ramp descent. - Training programs should emphasise the importance of activating the service brake to stop a truck as soon as it passes the electrical braking capability.
An investigation by DMIRS is continuing into the incident. AMSJ will keep our readers updated on the outcome of the investigation when it is release.
It’s not the first time that a haul truck driver has been killed in a similar incident. For those unfamiliar with haul truck operations, why not watch the video below taken from a Komatsu 830E AC Haul Truck in the Pilbara. It will help you appreciate the issues faced by haul truck drivers operating in busy mines.
Sorry buddy but both deaths mentioned are more behavioural problems then fear of consequences. One stood in a hobo in direct line of fire and the second obviously failed to crest and descend at correct speed and failed to hit the service brake at 25Km. What more do you want?
Ohh connie, did you know that the drill that Lee Buzzard was killed on, was parked up for safety for the previous eight shifts. for uncontrolled movement..
Get all the Facts right before asking, ‘What more do you want’..
A second hand drill, bought from another Mine site which had known technical issues.
one of them was an issue with uncontrolled movement. not sure if you understand what can happen when a pice of Machinery has an “Uncontrolled movement”. Very serious consequences, which is why this particular Drill should have been been parked up at the first sign of ‘ uncontrolled movement”. and fixed, not put back to work again and again.
This was nothing more than Meter Hungry companies putting profits before people.
What more do you want.
Both deaths were caused by behaviour and failing to adhere to safety standards. Let’s be realistic here. Prior death put himself in the direct line of Fire AFTER he’d isolated etc the first time. Then this muppet failed to crest and coast and chose not hit the service brake at 25Km. Let’s be realistic. What more do you want!!
Real classy calling the dead guy a muppet, seriously ?so you know for sure he exceeded the cresting speed?, its extremely easy to turn your auto retarder off or knock it to a higher set speed, then as his truck approached 25kmh when his training was meant to kick in he didn’t maybe bad training or risk of consequences, was he a grubby subby scared he might lose his job, maybe he was using his dynamic hoping it would slow him down. RIP Daniel
You are nothing but a pig, also an uneducated pig, do you have all the relevant information about theses Deaths. Why don’t you put your Real name up, rather than call yourself a ‘MINER’, calling a dead guy a muppet is so wrong. in fact I think you should rename your self ‘MINOR”
Let’s be real honest here the main problem here is Rio Tinto’s new operating structure that is to take on contract labour through workpac give them loads of boring online training that everyone skips straight to the assessment that you cant fail, and then throw them out into the field once they have ticked the boxes but they dont have a clue what they are doing. this is not a behavioral issue it’s a training and experience issue. Its plain and simple they are losing all their experienced operators because of the way they treat their staff and they are not providing adequate training to the new operators.
I helped build that haul raod in about 94 . It was built to industry stanndards . Sounds like an equipment failure or driver error . Its sad when someone dies at work , I was living in Parraburdoo when there was a truck incident that resulted in a fatality . Unfortunately usually the result of human error .
Failure on the adherence of safety on the Driver was noticed on the 2-accidents. Any alcohol test conducted after the accident happened? I believe there are lapses in the safety department because this was not the first time fatal accident happened in the area. Rio should immediately replace the head of safety.