Significant Incident Alert- FATALITY (involving MMG in the investigation)

Incident Title: Catastrophic Split Rim Assembly Failure

Date of Incident: 20 March, 2011

Location: Sepon - Route 28A

FPe No:- NA
What Happened:
Last Sunday a contractors employee was fatally injured when attempting to inflate a wheel assembly on a
Caterpillar 936E front end loader at their offsite workshop.
The subsequent investigation revealed that the split rim assembly was in a poor state of repair due to being
exposed to an acidic and corrosive environment.
During pressurisation, there was a catastrophic failure of the split ring assembly. The subsequent impact resulted
in the individual sustaining fatal injuries.
Immediately following the incident the individual was evacuated from their workshop to the medical clinic on
site at Sepon but despite the efforts of the medical staff, the individual was unable to be revived.
At MMG our approach to safety extends to working with our contractors to assist them manage and operate
their activities in accordance with our Injury Prevention Principles. This death is a sombre warning that we all
need to STOP and THINK to assess the risks before undertaking work.

Actions Taken or Planned:

Shut down all contract partner tyre maintenance areas immediately pending a review
All split rim assemblies to be inspected
Contractor ICAM investigation convened and facilitated by MMG
Cultural and community needs accommodated
Key Learnings:
Conduct regular, thorough equipment and workplace inspections
Always use the correct tool for the task at hand
Ensure that staff are adequately trained for the task
Always conduct a Risk Assessment prior to commencing high-risk activities.
STOP & THINK
Recommendations:
Ensure all split rim assemblies are thoroughly inspected
Develop a maintenance schedule to facilitate inspection of all vehicles with split rim assemblies
Inspect all tyre maintenance equipment & associated facilities to ensure fit for designed purpose
Review pre-start procedure with operators
Develop process to action issues raised from pre-starts (audit trail)
Review Safe Work Procedure (PRO-5160)
Competency based training to be implemented commencing with Safe Work Procedure (PRO-5160)
Introduce Risk Assessment & Management of Change processes for all contract partner equipment
Disseminate investigation findings and recommendations with wider mining community
Label all machines with mandated tyre pressure ranges as per manufacturers specifications
Ensure all contract partner staff follow Red Rules immediately after an incident or near miss
Further details will follow on completion of the investigation.
For further information contact: Rod Burgess Manager Mine Operations, +61401147112, 0862632478
This incident report is distributed by MMG to ensure all sites are promptly alerted to the occurrence of
a fatality. The information provided in this alert is based on preliminary data, and does not represent
the final conclusions regarding the causes of the incident.