Premium Content It has been a year of incredible highs and lows for Queensland mining. One of the biggest mine disasters in recent history rocked the industry, paving the way for the first ever Queensland Coal Mining Board of Inquiry. Two weeks after the Grosvenor mine blast, tough new mine safety laws passed in Queensland parliament to establish industrial manslaughter as an offence in mines and quarries. Here are the major mine safety disasters, tragedies and triumphs of 2020: A mine contractor was just minutes from the end of his Sunday shift when tragedy struck, etching his name into the shameful history of mining deaths that have rocked the region.
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Subscriber only From a Yalboroo woman who was found alive after days of searching to Mackay being named a top destination for Queensland travellers, these were some of the top stories in March 2020. A CHINESE company with lease hold over parts of Keswick Island has been called out for illegally trying to restrict public access to the popular tourism destination. Picture: Daily Mercury The death of a teenage girl in an alleged hit and run incident in Beaconsfield rocked the community as police searched for the driver. Investigations were continuing into the death of the 15-year-old girl who died on Nicklin Dr after the incident about 3.15am Sunday.
A central Queensland coal miner is suing for $1.4m in a negligence claim against her former employer over allegations she was placed at risk due to unsafe work practices. Amber Wensley worked at Coppabella mine, which is owned and operated by Peabody Energy Australia, when she claims she was exposed to a risk of damage and/or injury that should never have happened and has reduced her earning capacity by $1500 a week. The Nebo woman, who was a dump truck driver, claims she now suffers chronic pain and an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood after an unsafe load was dropped onto the tray of her vehicle from an unsafe height.