The Case

WorkSafe Victoria v Morning Star Gold N.L (2023)

Morning Star Gold N.L. (the company) operates a small-scale vertical shaft mine. On 6 November 2020, an employee operated a double-drum scraper to scrape out a heading in the mine that had been blasted during a previous shift.

The scraper was an older model not fitted with guarding, which exposed the wire rope and drum. This posed a risk of serious injury to employees due to possible entanglement. One of the wire ropes could over-spool, form a loop and catch objects.