QMRS Newsletter Edition 12 , June 2016

Leading Rescue 24/7...

Following on from the QMRS strategic planning session held in February this year a restructuring of operational portfolios has taken place for QMRS over the second quarter. This has been necessary to allow focus and consolidation of related areas to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery by QMRS in this challenging current mining environment.

MEMS and MRAS implementation have been brought together with Operations Response management to further integrate these into the mines rescue capability of the industry. Underground recruit training has been separated from Surface Mine and First Response training to maintain this core business area of QMRS whilst allowing resources to be focused on developing new areas of activity that will provide value to both the underground and surface coal industry.
Inertisation and equipment maintenance have maintained their existing separate portfolio areas.

Building on the partnership with Simtars to provide RTO services QMRS has delivered its first ‘fee for service’ surface Emergency Response and Rescue training during this quarter. In addition training in First Response techniques has continued with some mines. These are exciting developments for QMRS as we are able to utilise our existing skills and resources to grow the services delivered to our Members.

During this quarter the board of QMRS has approved the financial budget for 2016/17. With an ongoing focus on operating cost reduction and capital expenditure reduced to sustaining capital only the QMRS budget has been reduced by a further 14% from the current year and is now 31% less than its peak during 2012/13. Along with the ‘fee for service’ activities now underway this cost reduction has allowed the dollar value of the annual membership levy to be reduced by a further 18.5% from the current year.

It was pleasing to see Cook Colliery repeat their win in the QMRS Memorial Cup held at Newlands in April. Our thanks to Newlands staff for their assistance in hosting a successful competition at the twilight of the mines operation. We now look forward to the EK Healy Cup at Moranbah in July and wish all teams the best.

My thanks to David Watt for all his efforts over the last 3 years in managing our equipment maintenance and all the best in his new roles as a father and with FRSA.

Please read on to gather further information on many of the activities undertaken by QMRS over the last 3 months.

David Carey
Chief Executive Officer

Team Member Representative - Shaun Dando

June is always a significant month for me personally, with June 4^th 1998 etched deeply into my mining memory.

At the time I was working at the Mt Davy Project on the West Coast of New Zealand as a Maintenance Coordinator. We were driving two 1100m access drifts through stone and minor coal seams to reach the main Sub Morgan seam which was a high quality, low sulphur, coking coal seam approximately 5m thick. A Roadheader and Ramcars were being used in two separate single entry drifts that were force ventilated by fans located on the surface. This was a relatively small project, with two face crews of 4 men each, plus additional maintenance and project personnel.

In the late afternoon of Friday June 4^thwe received an alarm on our Tube Bundle gas monitoring system. The alarm indicated a level of approximately 20% Methane from a tube bundle point in Drift No.2 (measuring return air outbye of the face area).

Initial attempts to reach the face crew via the Dac system were unsuccessful, but then an electrician responded from an outbye Dac. He was asked to check the face as we had been unable to reach any of the crew. He responded a short time later with an emergency call that the Roadheader appeared to be buried in coal and there was no sign of anyone.

We initiated our Emergency Procedures which involved a Duty Card system to assist in managing the Incident, and available personnel entered the drift with emergency equipment.

There were several “first responders” who were Mines Rescue trained and these personnel were heavily involved in the attempt to reach the Roadheader operator and Cable hand who had been buried in an Outburst of around 30 tonne of fine coal from a small coal seam that was less than 800 mm thick.

After 30 minutes or so of frantic digging, and multiple communications with the Incident Control Team on the surface, our worst fears were confirmed when we located both of our work mates.

As we communicated our findings to the surface I remember looking outbye and seeing a number of cap lamps and the distinctive reflective overalls of a Mines Rescue team walking in unison down the drift. Even though I had been a Mines Rescue team member since 1996, I remember the feeling of absolute trust I had in these guys and the confidence they portrayed.

Life can change in an instant, and with no warning. We must be prepared to respond according to the situation and rely on our training and practice to get us through safely and effectively. As Mines Rescue team members we can be involved in an emergency situation either as a first responder or in a larger scale incident as part of a team response.

I have learnt a lot since 1998, we made decisions at the time that with the benefit of hindsight, knowledge and experience I would not make today. We still have plenty of room for improvement with the systems we have at our mines and with what we have developed at QMRS.

The integration of First Response and Mines Rescue procedures and processes especially where irrespirable or flammable atmospheres are involved is still a work in progress. We need to work together as an industry to get these processes right so that rescuers are not placed at an unacceptable level of risk, and that we have a consistent approach across our mine sites.

I encourage all of us to continue to not only refresh, but improve and build on the skills and knowledge that we each have. Learn from the lessons of the past because many of these have come at a huge personal cost.

WHS - Steve Dawe

Congratulations and well done to the next generation of recruits who successfully completed the June Recruit course at the Dysart station. It was the first full UG Recruit course we have run using the new Learning Management System (LMS). For those in the know this means a paperless fully integrated course. All things even the course ran without any major bugs, which is a credit to the IT department. This group of recruits experienced some really challenging days including a solid introduction to the fire gallery thanks to Woody and Garrett. A special mention and thank-you must go to the training staff for their assistance with the recruits during the course.

The health and safety at QMRS continues to improve with a shift in focus to our health over recent months. One of our health and safety representatives recently attended a workshop exploring the link between mental and physical health and well-being. I’m a huge supporter of mental health initiatives and will continue to push this focus with the staff and you as team members to help raise the profile. In particular depression affects a much larger portion of our industry than we sometimes like to admit but by just having that discussion around the crib table we can begin to break down some of the stigma around how depression is perceived. I challenge you to have that conversation with a mate or amongst your crew as I know that this can make a difference for some.

The staff here are adapting well and beginning to navigate and utilise the safety management system (SMS) here with much more confidence. We’ve recently completed another round of risk assessments which only serves to strengthen our SMS with a good cross section of staff contributing.

I’ve recently been handed responsibility of the UG training portfolio and am looking forward to working more closely with the trainers and team members to continually improve the training QMRS offers. The day release training continues to improve with round 3 concluding this month, thanks to Grasstree mine for hosting the round. The turning point (Clicker) system is receiving excellent feedback from the team members and will continue to be used whilst on site and at the station. Round 4 training is scheduled for Carborough Downs for the Northern end whilst Blackwater station will host the round for the Southern end of the basin.

In order to improve the training we deliver to you the training evaluation forms have been given a birthday and completed forms from each individual will be collated and analysed at the end of each round. These forms play an important role for us in order to continually improve the level of training you as team members receive. These are handed out at the conclusion of every training session and your opinions are valued and welcome so please take the time to constructively feedback to us about your mines rescue training experience.

It’s been great to catch up with and see a few of the comp teams training over recent months. Well done to those that made it through the QMRS Cup and I’m looking forward to seeing how you all prepare in the lead up to the EK Healy and perform on the day. Good luck and all the best!

Yours in Health, Safety and Training
Steve

Training - Mark Freeman

Open Cut Emergency Response Training
The first 4 modules of the Emergence Response Team Certificate III were conducted at the Blackwater QMRS Station in June with 6 team members from Yarrabee Mine. These modules which include Firefighting, Breathing Apparatus and Pump Operation as the main competencies, allow the team members to now form part of the site ERT and they will continue to train to complete the rest of the modules in the Certificate III. Many thanks goes to Julia Ahu of Yarrabee Mine for her assistance in the allowing the team to access the site training grounds for some response exercises as part of the practical assessment for the course modules.

The next modules are scheduled for the following dates and positions are still available on the courses. All modules are being held at the Blackwater Mines Rescue Station.

Block 2, Hazmat and Confined Space: 4^th – 7^th of August or
11^th – 14^th of August

PUAFIR316 Identify, detect and monitor hazardous material at an incident

PUAFIR320 Render hazardous materials incidents safe

PUASAR025A Undertake confined space rescue

Block 3, Vertical Rescue: 6^th – 10^th of October or 13^th -17^th of October

PUASAR032A Undertake vertical rescue

Block 4, Vehicle Rescue: 1^st – 5^th of December or 8^th – 12^th of December

PUASAR024A Undertake road crash rescue

May and June have also seen the QMRS instructors conducting emergency response competency maintenance training for Oaky Creek Surface Operations ERT and Kestrel Preparation Plant ERT on site and at the Blackwater Station. They have been focusing this round on the core skills of Vertical Rescue, Confined Space Rescue and Air Bar Operation.

Any information or questions regarding emergency response training direct all enquiries to Mark Freeman 0419 791 601 or the Blackwater Station on 07 4982 5369.

GAG - Clive Hanrahan

The long awaited replacement afterburner assembly for GAG 1 has finally arrived. It has been fitted and was tested during May and has proven to be far superior to the older Polish afterburner.

The assembly consists of improved flame stabiliser rings to give us a much more stable afterburner flame, an improved center fin assembly which will increase flame rotation for better oxygen reduction and a new fuel ring with "off the shelf" nozzles and jets, (plus a few other features which shall remain a QMRS secret for now). The afterburners are now completely or partly interchangeable between GAG 1 and 2 which is a huge advantage in times of breakdowns. The Inconel steel was imported from the U.S.A and construction of the assembly was carried out in Mackay.

The GAG Introduction training film is now complete and we aim to deliver the finished product during July. It is a 10 minute film with animation explaining how the GAG works and how we can use it. It will be a great tool for us to show people exactly what we do.

Leading Rescue 24/7...

Team Member Representative - Shaun Dando

WHS - Steve Dawe

Training - Mark Freeman

GAG - Clive Hanrahan

Operations Manager - Ray Smith