Inquiry hears of ongoing issues, methane ‘bubbling up’

Workers' concerns about issues at the longwall face involved in the May 6 explosion at Grosvenor were not always dealt with satisfactorily by mine management, injured miner Wayne Sellars has told a safety inquiry. The Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry heard that the Bowen Basin longwall operation was mining into a significant fault in the lead-up to the incident last year, with problems including roof stability. Wayne Sellars gives evidence. One action workers would seek for safety was to pump the face - using polyurethane resin or Carbofill to 'glue' the face and fill cavities. Mr Sellars was asked if, when he or fellow workers raised any concerns about the face, they were dealt with to his satisfaction by those at the Anglo American coal mine. "Not all the time, no, " he said. "Sometimes - like, we asked to pump, and they'd come back and just - we'd be told just to keep going." The Board of Inquiry is investigating the accident at Grosvenor mine last May which left Mr Sellars and four other workers with serious burns. It is also looking into various high-potential incidents (HPIs) involving longwall-related exceedances of methane at Queensland coal mines in the year leading up to that blast. Mr Sellars had been working in the coal industry for 13 years at the time of the accident and had been at Grosvenor mine during its development. Labour hire contractors 'treated differently' He told the inquiry yesterday (April 7) there was a huge difference between being a permanent employee and a labour hire contractor in the coal industry. "(In) a permanent workforce, you've got more of a voice to speak up. Like, bonus schemes and stuff like that," he said. "We were punished - if someone injured themselves, we'd lose our bonus on site and stuff like that, and that breeds bad culture. It puts everyone offside, if you can understand what I mean. "As a permanent worker, if you got told you were going to lose your bonus, you'd walk out on the grass. You wouldn't go to work. You would strike, for sure." Methane 'bubbling up' from floor He said he had been aware of ongoing methane gas exceedances at longwall 104, which had more gas than the previous longwalls at Grosvenor. For some time before the May 6 accident methane could be observed bubbling up in water on the floor of the longwall, he said. Sensors would stop mining equipment when gas reached trigger levels, but Mr Sellars said the workers were never removed from the longwall face while waiting for the level to drop. Mr Sellars said he had not felt unsafe in his 13 years of mining as he would not put himself in unsafe situations. "This incident that's happened was the last thing I personally expected to happen and, to be honest, I never wish this on anyone else ever again," he said. Outside of the inquiry proceedings, Anglo American metallurgical coal business chief executive officer Tyler Mitchelson said the company would pay close attention to Mr Sellars' testimony as it worked to put in place measures to improve the future safe operation of Grosvenor mine. “It is unacceptable that our colleagues were injured at Grosvenor mine last May, and we acknowledge the life-altering impact this incident has had on them and their families," he said. Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry public hearings are set to continue in Brisbane tomorrow (April 9). https://www.i-q.net.au/main/mine-worker-shares-account-of-horror-underground-blast

Inquiry hears of ongoing issues, methane ‘bubbling up’

Industry Queensland

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