The new standard – AS/NZS 3584 Diesel engine systems for underground coal mines Part 3: Maintenance – has been implemented by Sandvik Mining to enable better forward planning for safer maintenance practice and controls for its diesel-powered equipment operating underground.

In 2010, the NSW Department of Primary Industries mandated the recognition, implementation, certification and licensing of service workshops to AS/NZS 3584 Part 3.

However, with the standard still in draft form at the time, an interim licence was issued to those organisations and sites which fulfilled the basic required criteria until the final standard had been released and full compliance to this standard could be achieved.

Four Sandvik sites in NSW and Queensland applied for and were found to comply with the necessary draft standard criteria, and were issued an interim licence pending certification.

On December 19, 2011 after a full compliance audit by SAI Global, Sandvik Fairy Meadow was recommended for certification under AS/NZS 3584 Part 3, the first site in Australia to be so recognised, Sandvik Mining Australia quality manager Glen Manning said.

“This certification was the result of nearly two years of implementation, documentation, training and ongoing hard work on behalf of many personnel, both at Fairy Meadow and the other three sites in NSW and Queensland, who have all contributed to this achievement,” he said.

“Staff and management at the Fairy Meadow site have right to be proud of this considerable achievement, which demonstrates Sandvik Mining’s drive in Australia to be a leader in our field in terms of our commitment to safety and best practice.”

Sandvik Mining is a business area within the Sandvik Group and a leading global supplier of equipment and tools, service and technical solutions for the mining industry.

The offering covers rock drilling, rock cutting, rock crushing, loading and hauling and materials handling.

Sandvik is a global industrial group with advanced products and world-leading positions in selected areas – tools for metal cutting, equipment and tools for the mining and construction industries, stainless materials, special alloys, metallic and ceramic resistance materials as well as process systems.