Looking back: our progress

Pictured: MTW received the NSW Minerals Council Award for safety innovation in 2005.

Pictured: Kestrel Mine received the Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Innovation Award in 2005.

A picture is worth a thousand words and these pictures help tell the story of our safety innovation successes over the past seven years.

“Not too long ago, the mining industry believed mining was an inherently risky business and injuries could not be avoided,” general manager – Health Safety and Environment Rory Gordon said.

“This is definitely not the case. Through the commitment of employees and the business, we have made significant headway in making safety a core value of our business.”

Rio Tinto Coal Australia’s all injury frequency rate (AIFR) has more than halved over the past six years from 2.13 injuries per 200,000 hours worked in 2003, to 0.74 in 2008.

Rory said he has seen improvements inspired by many circumstances, from a team mate’s injury, noticing a hazard, or employees looking for ways to improve everyday tasks.

“These improvements are increasing our capacity to keep ourselves and our colleagues out of harm’s way, often at a very low cost,” Rory said.

“While we should celebrate our many successes, we still need to keep striving for our goal of zero injuries. I encourage everyone to look for ways to improve our safety.”

A few of the highlights from the past seven years include:

Four innovation projects have been recognised at the New South Wales Minerals Council’s safety innovation awards:
- 2009 – Bengalla was highly commended for the torque wrench handle
- 2008 - MTW won for ‘The jack’, which removes users from the line of fire
- 2006 - MTW won for ‘Eye spy’, which uses cameras to remove people from the line of fire
- 2005 - MTW won for the ‘Grease pressure release gun’, a tool invented in response to a safety incident where an employee lost an eye.
In 2008 Bengalla recorded an AIFR of 0.23, with just one recordable injury for the year and received the Esprit de Corp award at the New South Wales Mines Rescue Challenge
In 2008 Hail Creek Mine won the 'Industry and Business' award at the 2008 Queensland Road Safety Awards for its 'Road Safe September' campaign
In 2007 HVO won the chief executive’s safety award, following on from their most improved award in 2006
In 2006 Coal & Allied finished 1,2,3 in the NSW mines rescue competition
In 2005 Kestrel Mine on the Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Innovation Award for the ‘Return roller change out jig’
In 2002 Blair Athol Mine’s Heavy Equipment Workshop won two National Safety Council of Australia Workplace and Safety Achievement Awards.

Read more about our 2008 results for safety.