Company fined over acid spill at WA mine site

Company fined over acid spill at WA mine site

An Australian mining company, FQM Australia Nickel Pty Ltd has been fined $35,000 after being charged with failing to provide a safe working environment, to which they pleaded guilty. The charge relates to an incident in May of 2017 at the company’s Ravensthorpe nickel operation, when a ruptured tank spilled 10,000 litres of acidic slurry at the worksite.

On the day of the incident, a field tech was working on top of a processing tank at the site and had to jump over a three-metre drop to avoid the material, which had burst through the roof of a fibreglass tank’s roof. The spray from the mix came into contact with his clothing, as well as the skin on his face and lower back.

It was heard that FQM had temporarily used the tank to store limestone slurry, but had failed to correctly clean out all the residue. When the tank was refilled with the acidic mix, it caused a chemical reaction which resulted in the rupture of the roof of the tank.

Mines Safety Director for the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, Andrew Chaplyn, said that the incident was entirely preventable.

“Mining operators need to conduct ongoing risk assessments and must implement appropriate control measures,” he said.

“Measures such as cleaning the tank to remove residual limestone were not implemented.

“There was also only one means of access or egress from the tank platform, so having to jump to an adjacent tank exposed the worker to a fall from height hazard.”

Mr Chaplyn explained that the company should have completed the appropriate Change Management Procedure when the tank was used to temporarily store a different material.

“All mining operators need to develop and implement change management procedures to identify the potential impact of any proposed changes on the working environment,” he said.

“All employees affected by the change should be provided with adequate information, instruction, training and supervision.

“Worker safety should be every mining company’s number one priority.”

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