Nickel miner fined $810k over boilermaker's spinal injury
Canadian-owned First Quantum Minerals was slammed over the 2023 incident that left the mine worker permanently injured.
FQM Australia Nickel, a Canadian mining subsidiary, has been fined $810,000 for failing to secure equipment at its Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine in Western Australia in 2023. The incident left a worker with severe spinal injuries after he was struck by an unsecured Roman shield. The worker, a newly hired boilermaker, was part of a team performing maintenance on an industrial conveyor system when the accident occurred.
The supervisor overseeing the operation had only been in the role for three days and was not qualified in Job Hazard Analysis. The court acknowledged the company's history of safety violations, including a 2020 spill and a 2014 telehandler rollover, as well as recent fines for similar issues. The worker sustained spinal fusion surgery and 12 months of physiotherapy, still experiencing sleep and pain management problems.
FQM implemented safety improvements following the incident, but the company faces a substantial fine and costs exceeding $11,000.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
