Last year there were seven high potential incidents at the Anglo Coal mine in a four-month period, sparking concerns that adequate safety measures were being overlooked.

In one of the incidents, seven miners were trapped by a roof fall before escaping and in another a miner was left unconscious when a large piece of coal fell off the side wall.

CFMEU safety officer Tim Whyte said better communication between mine geologists and mine workers as well as changes to work practices was the key to future safety at Moranbah North.

Whyte said the series of incidents could be attributed to two separate factors: an inexperienced contractual workforce and strata issues.

“Some of the roof falls were due to incorrect alignment on the strata. They happened because of inexperienced people and supervisors who were not keeping tracks on where they were in alignment with the strata,” he said.

“The fall when the seven men were trapped was completely out of the norm of the whole mine and management have now gone back and looked at all the geological information available.”

The mine has now implemented a system which requires miners to have a strata permit to mine in a certain area.

Whyte said the permit includes certain parameters restricting access to necessary equipment before miners can proceed to the next area.

“Moranbah North now have a normal mine plan; overlaying that will be a methane drainage permit to mine and now overlaying that is a strata permit to mine,” he said.

The strata permit will increase safety and also allow the coal mine workers to know that all the data available on what they are mining into has been assessed.

“We have been working with mine management and the inspectorate to implement the plan and the information we have so far in the new plan is working quite well,” Whyte said.

“What we have been stressing to the mine workers is that we are in a man-made environment and we have to be forever vigilant … We have to look at it with fresh eyes each time.”