Beaconsfield mine supervisor’s safety comments

It is reported in today’s Australian newspaper that the coronial inquest into the death of Larry Knight has heard from Mr Knight’s supervisor, Gavan Cheesman.  Mr Cheesman has said that he was not aware of a report of seismic activity at level 925 (the scene of the fatal rockfall) from the previous shift.  If he had

“I would have gone down personally and checked out the area before sending them (Knight, Russell and Webb) in”.

This reinforces the importance of taking time before a job or shift starts to familiarise yourself with the state of the workplace.  In many industries this takes the form of a job safety analysis.  In hospitals there is a handover process between nursing staff.

Mr Cheesman has also said that he believes that the void at levels 915 and 925 was too large and insufficiently supported.  He agreed that the inadequate support contriubuted to the rockfall that caused the death of Larry Knight.

The inquest is continuing.

Categories mining, OHS, safety, Uncategorized, workplaceTags , ,

One thought on “Beaconsfield mine supervisor’s safety comments”

  1. totally agree the mine i work at have mission directive work teams where they seperate development and production workers so one side does not know what the other is doing which makes it difficult for the supervisor to notify workers of potential hazards. what a joke

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