High potential incident sparks Queensland mine safety first

A high potential incident on 31 March 2025 at Anglo American’s Moranbah North steelmaking coalmine in Central Queensland has sparked a recent tripartite safety and health forum that Queensland’s Commissioner for Resources Safety and Health said is a “first ever”.

Convened by Anglo American across two sessions — in April and June — the forum was to review the draft findings of its investigation into the incident. Chaired by Ken Singer, Acting Commissioner for Resources Safety and Health, the forum was an opportunity to seek tripartite input into the nature and cause of the incident, which is required to be investigated under the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999.

“This is the first time a tripartite forum like this has been held in Queensland to investigate a high potential incident and this forum, established by Anglo American, has set a benchmark for industry collaboration and transparency into the future,” Singer said.

“It brought experts and senior leaders from Anglo American, the Mining and Energy Union, industry safety and health representatives, site safety and health representatives, and mines inspectors together in a no-blame environment, and without fear of reprisal, to drive improved safety and health outcomes.

“As a group, we adopted the high-reliability organisation principle of reluctance to simplify,” Singer said. “Right upfront we discussed refraining from using phrases such as ‘someone should have’.

“We know that circumstances involving unplanned events of this nature are never simple and they often involve complex chains of events,” Singer said. “Hindsight bias can influence how we approach these matters, and it is more productive to understand the circumstances which led to the issue.”

Singer expressed appreciation for the opportunity to facilitate a forum that included tripartite contribution into the investigation process. “In tripartite forums we are more likely to really dig into the issues, and more likely to recommend changes that reduce the likelihood of a similar event occurring in the future,” Singer said.

“The forum examined the draft findings of Anglo American’s comprehensive s201 report investigation which was supported by some of the pre-eminent industry experts, sought tripartite input into potential causes, and considered additional controls that could be put in place to allow the safe resumption of mining operations.”

A key outcome of the forum was to document a pathway to allow extraction to recommence at Moranbah North mine. “It was also an opportunity to demonstrate the potential value of regulatory changes that might improve safety for the industry, such as ways to allow stakeholders to share information in a safe space free of blame and fear of reprisal,” Singer added.

“While the regulatory process continues in parallel requiring Anglo American to demonstrate an acceptable level of risk, the forum heard and interrogated facts and data leading up to the incident, the incident itself, and the controls that may allow the safe resumption of mining.”

Singer also said that the forum reinforced his view that the best way to keep resources workers safe and healthy was working together to investigate significant events to recommend solutions together, and then to openly share the learnings with the broader industry.

“I am glad to see the commitment of Anglo American to facilitate open and transparent discussions as part of this review forum and its ongoing commitment to share learnings and drive potential industry-wide progress, including advising that its s201 report is available to the wider industry,” Singer said.

“As Acting Commissioner, one of my key priorities will be to further promote industry-wide transparency and collaboration to advance a shared responsibility for improving safety and health for all resources workers.”

Support for the forum came from the Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, the Hon Dale Last MP, and was attended by industry safety and health representatives, site safety and health representatives, the senior leadership of the Mining and Energy Union and Anglo American, and mines inspectors and technical experts from Resources Safety and Health Queensland.

Image credit: iStock.com/dannyfroese. Stock image used is for illustrative purposes only.