HSEC C CONFERENCE 20012
A ANGU US PLAC P CE – HEA ALTH H AN ND SA AFET TY Field Nam me Title
Exc cellence and d Innovation ns Data Mod dified “Spyder” Longwall Face F Drill Rigg
Innovation title Id dentified Prroblem What, who o identified th he problem, how h the problem m was assesssed, what wa as the identifie ed risk assocciated with the problem m
Solutio on What, how the solution came about,, how the so olution mitiga ated the risk
How th he solution goes g beyond complian nce
P e (PUR) into longwall fac ces to The injection of Polyurethane ken strata is a routine opeeration in lon ngwall conssolidate brok mine es around Au ustralia. The e drilling of hooles in the lo ongwall face e / roof is nec cessary to fac cilitate injectiion of PUR. Currrent practice involves use e of MBS / LF FD drill rigs which w requ uire the drillin ng offsider to stand on thee unprotecte ed face side of the AFC to t change drrill steels (adjjacent to inherently unsttable roof con nditions) – se ee Figure 1 bbelow. Therre have been n a number of o strata relatted injuries aand even fata alities in th e Australian underground coal miningg industry to perssonnel workin ng on the AF FC. This issuue was identified in HSE EC risk asses ssments, butt no “off the sshelf” equipm ment was available to mitigate the risk of injuryy from this ha azard. Figu ure 2 below shows s how a roof fall on tthe longwall face can completely fill f the AFC with w stone – tthe position where w the d drilling offsider would stand to changee drill steels whilst ng PUR hole drillin es. An in nvestigation was conducted with sup pliers of drilling equi pment for op ptions. Initially it was prooposed that the Ram mbor rigs use ed for the longwall face ribb boltup be mod dified to suit the t drilling off PUR holes. Alminco ha ad a prod duct which ha ad been used d for longwa ll face drilling g – the “Spyyder”. In the form which was w suppliedd for the initia al trial, the rrig was still mounted m in a position whiich required the drillin ng offsider to o stand on th he AFC to chhange drill ste eels, how wever, the pottential for mo odification waas identified.. owing the inittial trial, the rig mountingg position was Follo shiftted to allow drill d steels to be changed from behind d the AFC C spill tray. In n addition, th he rig was maade more mo odular by e enabling the drill d motor to be removedd to reduce weight w for ccarrying on to o the longwall face. The drill collaring g arran ngement, the e rotation join nt and the AF FC mounting g braccket were als so modified to o better suit tthe task of exte ension drilling g of PUR holes. Figure 3 below show ws the “Spyyder” at the underground u trial. Currrently the pra actice of work king on the A AFC for the purpose p of drrilling PUR holes is still widespread. w A At Centennia al us Place the Angu e hazards ass sociated withh this practice have been n recognised d, and new equipment haas been purchased to m mitigate the ris sk by changing the requi red operating posittions of pers sonnel from a hazardous position (on the walkway alo AFC C) to a relativ vely safe pos sition (in the w ong the face e behind the AFC A spill tray y).
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