Through his new appointment as inertisation manager, Houlison hopes to achieve a cross-pollination of ideas between Micon and the Queensland Mine Rescue Service (QMRS).

“The experience and knowledge I have gained in Australia will be shared with Micon and QMRS,” said Houlison.

Through collaboration Houlison envisages Australia and the U.S. will effectively double the technological advances and inertisation personnel, with identical systems on both sides of the ocean that will jump rapidly ahead in years of development.

Houlison’s new position in the U.S. requires him to develop and train Micon/Phoenix first response teams and inertisation unit operators, train qualified operators across industry and upgrade the current inertisation system.

He will also work at establishing mutual agreements between the state and federal regulatory agencies in U.S. and develop and maintain lines of communication with QMRS and Poland’s central rescue station.

Houlison will also be in charge of maintaining and developing inertisation protocol, the research, development and design of technical upgrades to existing, proposed and new equipment and to enhance, redesign and develop emergency response strategies.

The somewhat unusual element of Houlison role, which only came into play as early as Monday last week, was the federal government had petitioned Micon on homeland security. This entails working in subterranean type areas such as basements of buildings and underground railway systems.

However, it is the area the new jet engines must respond to that provides one of the greatest challenges for Houlison. Logistics must be coordinated for Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Album, Kentucky and Colorado, to mention the nearest states. Distance could present itself as a testing issue.

By taking on the new post, Houlison will close a 25-year chapter of his life with mine rescue in Australia.

“The technology we have in Australia is identical to the technology purchased by Micon. In Australia we have taken five to six years to develop and upgrade the inertisation system – including fuel management, water management, electronics, and we are now looking at remote operation through a project with CSIRO. These are the sorts of technologies I will be taking with me,” he said.

Micon bought two GAG jet engines from Poland approximately six weeks ago. Micon were looking to purchase the engines for some time but the underground fire at Pinnacle proved to be the catalyst for the acquisition.

Houlison’s move and the purchase of the inertisation system in the U.S. presents itself as a monetary relief for Australia. Equipment required to facilitate research and development on the system was going to impact fairly heavily on the mining industries research funds. By working together with America, Australia gains the same technological advancements, without necessarily having to spend the same amount of funds.

“The whole concept is we have two systems based in Queensland and two systems based in US that will be identical. We will then have trained people in Australia and the US that can respond with identical equipment. This means if you have a large scaled emergency, then it is bums on seat in an aircraft and fly across and away you go,” he said.

Houlison is currently in the midst of discussions with the QMRS board on an exchange program between QMRS and Micon. “For every year, you effectively have two years that have been put in, signifying rapid progress,” he said.

Houlison has already gained experience in the U.S. through his role fighting the fire in Consol Energy's Loveridge mine in West Virginia earlier this year. He completed the feasibility study on whether the jet engine could successfully complete the mission, then put together the logistics in the U.S. He was then involved in the risk assessment on sending the unit overseas, taking into account the responsibilities to maintain inertisation capacity in Australia.

“The bureaucracy system that operates in America is very different to the one in Australia which in some ways was a challenge,” he said.

“While we were in America we conducted several risk assessments for using the jet engine in a more hostile environment, for example in snow, which the Queensland personnel had never experienced.

“When using risk based philosophy processes to utilise the jet engine we involved Consol, the MSHA and the UMWA. They then used the risk-based philosophy for the re-entry of the mine, a philosophy never before used in America.

“There was a huge exchange of ideas that came from Australia to America. Conversely, in the U.S. some of their protocols for re-entry into coal mines were quite different to the ones we have in Australia and I bought back some of that information.

“There was a cross-pollination of ideas and concepts that hadn’t been contemplated on either side of the ocean.”

Houlison has 28 years experience in the mining industry, starting in the electrical field and working in various underground coal mines through Lithgow and Newcastle areas in New South Wales.

He started with QMRS in 1996, and in February 1997 the inertisation system was introduced to the Collinsville mine where he was superintendent at the time, giving him experience from the word go.

Houlison will leave for America, Pennsylvania, to take up his new position between December eight to 12, depending on visas.