Incidents at BHP and Fortescue mines attract Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety attention
The WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) has confirmed it is looking into the circumstances of recent collisions involving autonomous trucks at mining sites in the state.
The most recent incident involved two autonomous trucks colliding at BHP’s Jimblebar mine “due to a traction event caused by a fast-moving weather system”, while in February, two driverless dump trucks at Fortescue‘s Christmas Creek iron ore mine in the Pilbara also crashed.
“BHP reported the incident and advised DMIRS that an unloaded autonomous truck had lost traction and slid into the path of a loaded autonomous truck as the weather system moved through the area,” DMIRS director mines safety Andrew Chaplyn tells ATN.
“At the time of the impact, the unloaded truck was travelling at approximately 14km/h and the loaded truck 27km/h. There were no injuries to any personnel.
“BHP confirmed it had not applied speed restriction procedures to the autonomous fleet due to the sudden nature of the weather event.
“DMIRS contacted the Jimblebar site to determine the interim controls it has put place to prevent a recurrence of the incident and to ensure the safe resumption of haulage operations. The department also issued the site with an Improvement Notice to ensure adequate controls are in place until it completes an investigation and review of the safe systems of work.
Read about an explosives truck in a mine sinkhole that sparked a WA incident report, here
“DMIRS is continuing to liaise with Fortescue Metals Group on the investigation outcomes of a slow-speed collision between autonomous trucks in February this year.
“The department is working with national and international autonomous working groups to share lessons learnt and improve the overall safety of mining operations when implementing this technology.
“Importantly, these autonomous systems are controlled by operators in control rooms on site and remotely in Perth. DMIRS requires that system operators are competent and make sound decisions, and it is critical that local conditions are verified.
“Western Australia is at the forefront in the use of autonomous haulage systems technology, and plays a leading role in developing safety guidance.
“More information is available in the Safe Mobile Autonomous Mining in Western Australia Code of Practice.