A MINING contractor said it "regrets" an incident at Muswellbrook's Mount Arthur coal mine which left a worker on fire and running for his life, but has not been required to admit guilt.
The NSW Resources Regulator has withdrawn a prosecution and accepted an unenforceable undertaking and penalties of nearly $500,000 from Downer EDI company Otraco after a 29-year-old contract worker was set alight during a shocking refuelling incident in 2017.
It took just 19 seconds for the man to be covered in diesel fuel after he selected an 800 litres per minute adapter rather than a 300 litre one while refuelling a tyre handling machine because the fittings were the same colour and poorly labelled.
Within seconds the fuel nozzle was ejected and "flung around under pressure", with diesel fuel flowing at a peak of 791 litres per minute after 18 seconds, before a "flame flashed back towards the worker" after diesel came in contact with engine parts estimated to be more than 300 degrees Celsius.
The man ran towards a ditch with flames to his head and upper body. He returned to work three months after the incident.
Otraco offered an enforceable undertaking on July 31 after the Resources Regulator initiated a prosecution under the Work Health and Safety Act.
In August BHP'S Mount Arthur coal mine agreed to pay more than $1 million under an enforceable undertaking that allowed the company to avoid making an admission of guilt, but included acknowledgment "its alleged failure to meet a health and safety duty exposed a worker to a risk of death or serious injury".
The $1.09 million in works required by the Resources Regulator - including $210,000 to Muswellbrook Rural Fire Service - is the highest to date in NSW and is more than double a $500,000 fine imposed by a court on another NSW mine following a serious worker injury case, the Resources Regulator said.
In a statement on Friday Resources Regulator acting chief investigator Andrew Tull said Otraco would pay at least $458,000, including the funding and delivery of safety and community projects valued at more than $385,000.
"Under the terms of the undertaking, Otraco will develop and deliver a best practice training package to enhance operator competence in the use and maintenance of earthmoving and off-the-road tyre handlers and make these resources freely available to the industry," Mr Tull said
"Two new internship positions will be created to oversee the video training package development and an $80,000 donation will be made by Otraco to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.
"The Regulator is satisfied that the terms of the undertaking will provide greater benefits than could be achieved through prosecution action alone and provide clear and tangible benefits to the workforce, industry and the community."
The Regulator said the injured worker was consulted about the enforceable undertaking.
Otraco is also required to place a notice about the decision in publications including the Newcastle Herald.
