A load-haul-dump (LHD or bogger) operator was fatally injured when he was struck by a rock weighing about 700 kg that rolled from an open stope. The LHD was parked in the stope access drive and the driver was on foot in front of the loader bucket.
There was a substantial gap between the brow and the rill at the stope draw point. The rill extended well into the draw point. The rock appears to have rolled down the rill and struck the operator, who was using a hose to water down the rill.
Direct causes
- There was a large open stope with the hazard of falling rocks.
- The LHD operator was working outside the cabin at the base of the rill.
Contributory causes
- Any rocks that fell inside the open stope could drop and eject from the stope. A small bund was in place but it did not prevent the rock from rolling down the rill with sufficient momentum to strike the operator.
- Loading operations were almost complete for the day and the brow was open.
- There was no written procedure for clearing stope draw points that were blocked or hung up.
- The procedure for loading at stope draw points allowed free bogging to a location where the top edge of the loader bucket was below the stope brow. This allowed a gap of several metres between the brow of the draw point and the rill.