$200K fine after stacker conveyor entanglement at a gold mine
A mine operator has been fined $200,000 and ordered to pay $15,392.20 in costs in the Perth Magistrates Court. It is over an incident in which a worker for a contractor suffered a crush injury and a fractured left humerus after becoming entangled in a stacker conveyor at the Mungari gold mine near Kalgoorlie.
The mine operator pleaded guilty to contravening sections 19(1) and 32(1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2020. The company failed to comply with a health and safety duty, exposing a worker to a risk of injury or harm to health, WorkSafe WA said. The prosecution did not allege that its failure caused the worker’s injuries.
The incident occurred on 17 April 2022. At the time, the company operated the mine and acted as the principal employer at the site, about 20 km west of Kalgoorlie. A mining services company had been fined $750,000 and ordered to pay costs by the Perth Magistrates Court in 16 December 2025 in relation to the same incident.
The worker, a heavy diesel mechanic for the mining services company, was conducting maintenance on a mobile stacker that transported fine tailings material to the underground paste plant. The sleeve of the worker’s overalls caught in a nip point at the tail drum, pulling the worker’s arm into the machinery and causing injuries.
The worker had been trying to clear a build-up of material from the adjusters of the belt of the stacker by reaching through an unguarded side access port while the stacker was operating. The Code of Practice: Safeguarding of Machinery and Plant 2009 identifies conveyors as posing an entanglement risk and states that workers should use isolation procedures to de-energise plant when carrying out cleaning tasks, WorkSafe WA said.
“Conveyors are a well-known source of entanglement hazards, and the risks associated with working on or near operating machinery have long been understood across the mining industry,” WorkSafe WA Commissioner Sally North said. “Mine operators and contractors must work together to identify hazards, assess risks and implement effective controls.
“Where maintenance tasks involve machinery with moving parts, duty holders must enforce appropriate procedures and controls to eliminate or minimise the risk of entanglement,” North said. “This case is a reminder that exposing workers to the risk of injury is unacceptable, and WorkSafe will continue to take enforcement action when duty holders fail to meet their obligations.”
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