| 11/07/2003 |
A coal miner sustained an open wound to his left forearm and was kept in hospital for more than 24 hours when he was struck by a 2m × 0.25m fall of roof in a heading supported primarily by rock bolts. He was standing on the continuous miner putting the side mesh into position prior to pushing up the roof strap and mesh. The roof stone fell and was deflected by the machine. It struck the man as he attempted to jump clear and pinned him to the ground. |
| 30/07/2003 |
A fitter in a coal preparation plant sustained severe lacerations to his thumb when it was trapped between a conveyor tail end roller and the conveyor structure, and he was kept in hospital for more than 24 hours. The roller had been removed as part of planned maintenance and was being pulled clear to allow a replacement to be moved into position for fitting. The roller was not secured, and moved while he was adjusting the pull. |
| 27/08/2003 |
In an unwitnessed accident an experienced electrician installing fixed lighting adjacent to the discharge chute of the skip pocket sustained an open wound to his left heel when it was trapped by the operation of the skip pocket door. It appears that he was straddling between a fixed steel ladder and the skip pocket when the door was activated. |
| 27/08/2003 |
Whilst trying to remove a fast bolt from an anti-topple ram bracket between two roadhead powered supports a fitter struck his left hand with a hammer and fractured his index finger. He continued to work and completed his shift, including two hours overtime. He did not call at the medical centre on his return to surface but attended hospital on the following day where the fracture was diagnosed and he was admitted for over 24 hours. |
| 01/09/2003 |
At the tail end of a belt conveyor a patrolman sustained an injury to his right wrist. He had been using a 25mm diameter wander hose to free the suction end of a pump hose that had become blocked. As he attempted to turn the tap off on the wander hose the hose burst some 50mm from the tap and he was struck on the right wrist. |
| 02/09/2003 |
A haulage worker sustained bruising/swelling to his throat when a load binder extension handle slipped and struck him as he was trying to secure a load to a flat tram. |
| 19/08/2003 |
A shift manager’s right index fingertip was traumatically amputated while he was adjusting a bottom belt idler bracket with the belt running. As a belt joint passed over the bottom idler the impact on it moved the loosened bracket and trapped his finger. |
| 07/08/2003 |
In an unwitnessed accident in a colliery pit bottom, early in the dayshift, a loco fitter stumbled and fell over track rails, fracturing a rib. He was apparently carrying a loco brake shoe at the time and injured his ribs when he fell onto either the brake shoe or the rail edge. There was nothing abnormal was observed at the accident site. |
| 23/09/2003 |
A haulage worker sustained a fracture to his right arm when he stumbled and fell in the main access/travelling road to the working section of a mine. He had been walking on a wooden walkway when he stumbled and then caught his foot under the web of the rail track. |
| 08/09/2003 |
In the sump of a skip shaft at a large coalmine, a shaft worker sustained injury when his leg slipped through a gap in a shaft platform resulting in a fracture of his pelvis. He was cleaning off coal spillage with a shovel from the platform located beneath the skip pockets when one leg apparently dropped through a 125mm gap between the end of the platform and the shaft wall. He continued to work for the remainder of that day and was initially diagnosed as suffering groin strain. A fractured pelvis was discovered some two weeks later due to increasing discomfort. |
| 27/08/2003 |
A experienced contract development, working in 32 degree Celsius ET at a junction at the entrance to a 4m long single-entry heading in preparation for further drivage, was sick due to heat induced illness and was escorted from the mine and examined in the medical centre. He did not attend hospital and returned to work the following night without continuing ill effect. He had felt unwell earlier in the shift but continued to work against the advice of his command supervisor. He took frequent drinks but did not eat. |
| 24/09/2003 |
A face worker sustained a fracture and dislocation to his right index finger and was kept in hospital for more than 24 hours when a stone fell between powered support canopies and struck his gloved hand as it rested on the armoured face conveyor |
| 08/09/2003 |
A welder, deployed to use of burning equipment to remove a gearbox from a filter press in a surface coal washery, was hit in the left eye by a foreign object after he removed his welding goggles to inspect the gearbox on completion of burning. He continued to work as normal and did not report the accident to the medical centre or to his supervisor. Almost a month later he reported that he had been diagnosed with a penetrating eye injury to his left eye. |
