Subject: Structural failure of fixed conveyor stacker
Date: 18 March 2019
Summary of incident
Note: The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety’s investigation is ongoing.
The information contained in this significant incident report is based on materials received, knowledge and understanding at the time of writing.
In February 2019, a fixed conveyor stacker collapsed during normal operation. A Root Cause Analysis found, that other than the temperature reaching 47°C, there were no extreme weather events at the time nor any abnormal operational loads. It was not running at full capacity at the time of failure although it had run close to its limit earlier in the day.
The failure has halted use of the stockpile and subsequent processing and production. It has also created a hazardous environment for the demolition of the stacker. There were no personnel in the vicinity at the time of the failure.