Worker critically injured at West Coast gold mine
A worker was critically injured on a conveyor at a West Coast alluvial gold mine.
A Hato Hone St John spokesperson said emergency services were notified of an incident on Woodstock-Rimu Rd in Ruatapu at 3.49pm on Sunday.
“We responded with one ambulance and one helicopter. We treated and transported one patient to Christchurch Hospital via helicopter in a critical condition,” she said.
A WorkSafe spokesperson said it was notified of an injury to a worker doing maintenance on a conveyor at the Rimu alluvial gold mine on Sunday.
“An inspector has visited the site and issued a prohibition notice, which prevents the conveyor from being used until it is made safer,” he said.
Three improvement notices were also issued, in relation to machine guarding, improved emergency response plans, and first aid equipment. The mine operator must comply with the improvement notices by April 23.
“Our initial inquiries will determine whether an investigation is opened. No charges have been filed at this early stage,” he said.
A police spokesperson said police were notified about the workplace incident.
“The person was transported by helicopter to Christchurch with critical injuries. I understand they remain in hospital,” they said.
The operator could not be reached for comment.
Minerals West Coast manager Patrick Phelps said he understood WorkSafe was looking into a case of a man being injured while carrying out maintenance.
“This will included determining what led to the injury, how it could have been prevented, and whether or not to launch a formal investigation.
“With WorkSafe working through the relevant processes, and without a full understanding of what happened, it would be premature to say anything else about this incident at this stage,” he said.
“Minerals West Coast will continue to work with WorkSafe, MinEx and others to ensure people working in mining come home safely, and that workplace injuries and deaths do not occur.”
Wayne Scott, chief executive of MinEx, the national health and safety council for New Zealand’s extractive sector, said conveyor belts were used to move mined material into a screen, where it was separated
The rubber belt moves around large drums on either end.
“The belt moving around the drums are nip points, so they need to have a guard around those nip points so people can’t get themselves or their clothing caught in the moving belt,” he said.
Scott said he had been on the West Coast a month ago running a health and safety workshop, and 62 miners had attended to learn about topics including safe use of equipment and the importance of emergency response plans.
“Emergency response plans are very important, particularly because some operators are working alone in quite remote areas, although I understand more than one person was working on [the Ruatapu] site,” he said.
All gold mines were required to have first aid kits, but the regulations did not specify what first aid equipment needed to be in the kits or that a qualified first aider needed to be on site at all times, Scott said.
“The alluvial gold mining sector has made significant advances in health and safety compliance. Unfortunately, when things go wrong, it’s usually major.”