NSW: Broken Hill mine fined $500,000 over fall incident which led to leg amputation

A NSW mine operator has been fined $500,000 following an investigation and prosecution by the resources regulator over an incident in which a worker fell and subsequently had a leg amputated.

The incident, which occurred in 2012 at the Perilya Broken Hill Southern Operations Mine, involved a then 51-year-old man who fell 14 meters from an elevated loader bucket to the base of a vertical mine haulage shaft.

The worker suffered serious injuries as a result of the fall, and he subsequently had his right leg amputated at the hip.

Perilya Broken Hill Limited was convicted of a Category 2 offence for failing to comply with a health and safety duty under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.

The NSW Resources Regulator’s chief compliance officer Anthony Keon welcomed the judgment in the NSW District Court.

“This is another reminder for our industry that failures in work health and safety duties will have serious consequences,” Keon said.

“Mine operators have a duty to ensure the health and safety of workers.

“Where work health and safety duties are not met, the Resources Regulator will be there to hold offenders to account,” he said.

Proceedings against Perilya Broken Hill Limited’s parent company Perilya Limited were dismissed by the Court.