The longwall was mining through badly faulted and disturbed ground at the time the miners were performing the task, and the tow string and its rigging broke away from an anchor point on one of the chocks, causing it to recoil violently and hit the workers.

The Queensland Mines Inspectorate said the two men could easily have been killed in the incident.

While an investigation into the accident revealed that the towing/pulling of chocks for realignment and other longwall equipment is common practice throughout the industry, the mines inspectorate issued a number of recommendations:

• All towing/pulling components and attachment points need to be rated to withstand the forces being applied;
• Towing/pulling forces need to be controlled;
• Risk assessments must have sufficient technical input to identify all the hazards present; and
• As nearly all the components in the tow string are lifting-plant components, a standard operating procedure (SOP) must be developed, as required by Section 72 of the Coal Mining Safety and Health Regulation.