Michelle Slater
Loy Yang mine operator AGL has been fined $50,000 by the safe work regulator after workers were put at risk from a fire sparked by a faulty conveyor in November 2018.
AGL Loy Yang Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court yesterday after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to use administrative controls to reduce the risks associated with mining hazards.
The company also pleaded guilty to a single charge of failing to notify WorkSafe immediately after becoming aware of an incident.
AGL Loy Yang was fined $50,000 without conviction and ordered to pay a further more than $9,100 in costs.
The court heard a machine known as the L115 conveyor was used to transport brown coal from the mine to the two neighbouring power stations.
The conveyor was fitted with engineering controls, including belt control devices designed to detect slippage and stop the conveyor, reducing the risk of frictional heat and the possibility of a fire.
But a belt was slipping on the conveyor which sparked a fire in an area of the mine surrounded by brown coal, oil and electrical infrastructure.
An investigation found operators in the conveyor’s control room could not have detected the belt slippage.
This was because they were unaware one of the belt control devices had been previously disconnected because it had been falsely tripping.
The court found it was reasonably practical for AGL to have reduced health and safety risks by providing and maintaining a system of work for the belt control devices.
WorkSafe director of health and safety Narelle Beer said it was an important reminder to take a step-by-step approach to controlling health and safety risks.
“While the most effective control measure is eliminating the hazard and its associated risk, we understand that’s not always possible,” Dr Beer said.
“Employers must ensure administrative controls such as work methods or procedures are used where a health and safety risk remains after taking measures such as substitution, isolation and engineering controls.”
An AGL spokesperson said the company worked co-operatively with WorkSafe which was satisfied with a review and response to address the risks identified as a result of the incident.
“The hazard that eventuated was an unintended result of an administrative failure within an otherwise comprehensive system of risk controls,” the spokesperson said.
“The court noted that AGL Loy Yang was a good corporate citizen committed to health and safety, that it operated in a high-risk environment and had no previous convictions.”
