A professional miner, working alone, was struck and pinned down by falling rock.

The miner was scaling – knocking down loose overhead rock. He was working under an unsafe, unbolted rock ceiling, contrary to safe procedure. Loose rock fell on him and pinned him down. He was found by a routine patrol about two hours later, then remained trapped for another 45 minutes while a rescue party was assembled. He died shortly after arrival at hospital.

Don’t work alone, especially when doing high hazard work such as this. Evidence presented at the coroner’s inquiry disclosed the victim could have been laying there injured for more than two hours before being discovered by a routine patrol. Persons working alone should be checked on frequently.

Be prepared for an emergency in your workplace. In this case, it took 45 minutes before 10 rescuers could be assembled. Power lifting equipment such as air bags might have helped in this rescue attempt.