Recommendations from fatality investigation

The latest safety alert released on the NSW Trade & Investment website - Safety Alert SA14-04: Fatal head injuries in kibble incident - highlights recommendations from kibble fatality investigation.

The incident that was investigated happened in March last year when a worker received fatal head injuries while travelling in a kibble. The kibble was being used to help develop a blind sink within a shaft at an underground mine.

The shaft sink supervisor entered the kibble at the lower deck and rang the bell to be hoisted to an area about 15 metres away. As the kibble passed through the opening in the shaft, he suffered fatal injuries at a nip-point.

The Mine Safety Investigation Unit has completed a formal investigation into the incident. A safety alert has now been published to draw attention to recommendations from the investigation such as: administrative/soft controls should not be exclusively used to manage shaft sinking risks; and human factors such as fatigue, hours of work and human error should be considered when reviewing shaft sinking risks.

The full safety alert can be downloaded from the department's website.

An earlier investigation information release and the investigation report are also available.