Investigation Report Into Fatality at Ravensworth Mine Released

A range of factors including poor road design, poor signage, bad lighting and an ‘over-reliance on administrative controls’ all contributed in the death of worker at Ravensworth mine in 2013, according to a newly released investigation report.

On 30 November 2013, trainee plant operator, Ingrid Forshaw,was killed at the Ravensworth open cut mine near Singleton when the Toyota Landcruiser she was driving collided with a Caterpillar 793D haul dump truck.

The 351 tonne haul truck was carrying 186 tonne of coal when it ran over the Landcruiser. Ms Forshaw died immediately at the scene from multiple injuries.

According to the official Investigation Report released yesterday by the NSW Mine Safety Investigation Unit, Ms Forshaw had been travelling down the 8th haul road just before midnight when she turned right into the 9th haul road and into the path of the haul truck.

“At the time, vehicles approaching the T-intersection on the 8th ramp were required to give way to vehicles on the 9th haul road.” the investigation report said.

Investigators concluded that there was no one main  cause to the accident, rather a range of contributing factors.

These factors include (paraphrased from the report):

• some aspects of the intersection design and signage did not meet Ravensworth mine’s guidelines and/or ARRB best practice.
• the height of the windrows may have restricted Ms Forshaw’s line of sight .
• the background lighting near the intersection had the potential to disorientate or confuse drivers approaching the intersection on the 8th ramp.
• The presence of the water ponding may have been a contributory factor if the reflection of headlights in the water had confused or distracted Ms Forshaw.
• the front bumper lights on the truck were obscured and the recessed right side low beam light may have limited the visibility of the truck.
• the limited field of vision of the truck operator meant that the operator could not see the Landcruiser when it was positioned in the truck’s blind spot.
• there were no proximity or collision avoidance systems installed on the truck or Landcruiser.
• there was an over-reliance on administrative controls to manage heavy and light vehicle interactions.

Click here to read the full: Ravensworth-Investigation-Report.