07:38 am, Monday 30 March, 2009

The Queensland Department Of Mines And Energy has issued a safety alert following a number of incidents involving man baskets separating from machines and crashing to the ground, injuring passengers on board.

The two most recent incidents cited by the Department, one of which was fatal, were inUnderground Mines.

According to the safety alert, both incidents involved a Failure Of Locking Devices in the host machines, such as Front End Loaders, which caused the man basket to detach and fall to the floor.

The machines were fitted with a quick hitch type mechanism which allows for the interchange of components. In both instances, the manually operated mechanisms were not locked in place, allowing the man basket to detach and fall.

A number of front end loader models allow a man basket to be attached either on the forks or in place of the bucket.

In many cases, locking the man basket in place only relies on a procedure where the operator checks to ensure the locking mechanism has been activated, either hydraulically or manually.

Mine managers should review the procedures that control attaching the man basket and ensuring positive locking, and also review training materials to treat security of the locking mechanism as a critical task during personnel lifting operations.

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