A haul truck driver has had a lucky escape at Rio Tinto’s Hunter Valley Operations after his vehicle reversed over a bench and rolled down a dump.
The operator was taken to hospital with a shoulder injury but has since been released.
Australian Mining understands the incident occurred during Monday's night shift.
A Coal & Allied spokesperson told Australian Mining an investigation into the incident is underway.
“A haul truck at Hunter Valley Operations rolled last night after reversing over a bench.
“The operator was taken to hospital with a shoulder injury and was released this morning.
“We regard this as a serious incident and it is being fully investigated, to identify any measures that can reduce the chances of a similar event occurring in the future.”
On the 14th of May 2011, a serious incident occurred at HVO where a truck driver fell into a ‘micro sleep’ near the end of his shift and his vehicle collided with another heavy vehicle.
The accident led to the implementation of a ‘SmartCap’ designed to manage driver fatigue and reduce the risk of incidents, and was trialled on 48 operators at HVO last year.
Image: riotintocoalaustralia
