Hail Creek Mine's rescue team awarded

Rio Tinto Coal Australia's Hail Creek Mine emergency response team has taken out second place in this year's Queensland Open Cut Mines Rescue Service competition.

The team competed strongly with its finely tuned emergency management procedures; taking home first place in the Road Accident Rescue category and missing out on first place overall by just three per cent.

Hail Creek Mine team member Bridget McBeth was the only female to take part in the competition, which included rescue squads from eight sites across Central Queensland and New South Wales.

"The challenge tested our crisis and emergency response capabilities and provided an invaluable experience for all participants to get a taste of what a real emergency would be like," Hail Creek Mine team captain Darryl Dhu said.

"Every member of the Hail Creek team learned something valuable from the competition and will bring these learnings and enhanced teamwork skills with them to site.

"I feel we have a very skilled and capable team and to be rewarded for our ability to respond and deal with a crisis is very humbling."

The competition, held at Blackwater, presented teams with realistic emergency scenarios that could happen at or around a mine site. Eight teams competed in the competition with BMA Peak Downs announced overall winners.

"We believe it is essential to test our emergency and crisis management systems to ensure we get it right if a real emergency event ever occurs," Hail Creek Mine General Manager Operations Andrew Woodley said.

"This result puts Hail Creek Mine at the forefront of mines rescue and imposes an even greater challenge - to not only maintain our rescue procedures, but to continue our high safety standards across the site and keep up the momentum towards our goal of zero injuries."

Mr Woodley congratulated Hail Creek Mine's emergency response team and said taking part in the challenge has put them in good stead to respond in the event of a real emergency.

"The performance of the competition team is a direct reflection of the preparedness of the full Emergency Response Team. Congratulations to every member of the team and for making Hail Creek Mine a safer place to work," Mr Woodley said.

ENDS

Media Enquiries:
Alison Smith
Rio Tinto Coal Australia
07 3361 4223 / 0438 787 038

Media release - Hail Creek Mine's rescue team awarded [PDF: 20 KB]