On Thursday 18 October Anglo American’s Moranbah North mine was host to the 50th National Mines Rescue Competition, with teams from nine mines across Australia including Anglo American’s Grasstree mine putting their emergency response and mines rescue skills to the test in a series of mock emergency scenarios.
Teams travelled to Moranbah from across Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania to participate in a number of surface and underground physical tests, demonstrating their competence in rescue, evacuation and recovery.
Moranbah North mine General Manager, Glen Britton, said Anglo American was delighted to host the 50th National competition.
“Teams have put their training to the test today, with officials assessing their ability to respond to mock emergency situations that could potentially occur on a mine site if safety controls failed,” Mr Britton said.
“Mines rescue gives us peace of mind that if there ever was a serious incident at our mines, we have the expertise to help us rescue injured people and safely secure the mining areas.
“Rescue personnel become advocates for safety and leaders in the event of an emergency.
“Their colleagues will really look to them for direction in the event of an incident,” Mr Britton said.
The competition included a surface incident involving multiple injured people, testing the team’s ability to implement triage and assess the severity of particular injuries. Underground, team members demonstrated their ability to secure compromised roof structures to get to injured people, while wearing heavy breathing apparatus and monitoring gas levels. Team captains also sat theory examinations to demonstrate their understanding of the legislation.
The winning team will be announced at a presentation dinner in Mackay on Friday night.
ENDS
Contact: Anglo American
Jacqui Strambi (07) 3834 1935; 0439 774 526