Fatigue Management: Court awards $1.25M to Queensland coal miner after crash on drive home

A Queensland coal miner has been awarded more than $1 million in damages in a case that has been tipped to change the way mining corporations deal with fatigue in the workplace

The worker suffered brain damage as a result of the crash and has no recollection of the accident or events leading up to it, according to supreme court files

In a judgement handed down by the court, the mining business enterprise BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), contractor HMP and the labour lease agency Axial did not do enough to manage the workers fatigue

Throughout the hearing, defence legal professionals argued the worker was partly responsible for the crash

The defence lawyers said BMA provided accommodation on the mine site for employees to rest after a 12-hour shift

But the court heard the worker had made the decision to go home, irrespective of how he felt

The worker's barrister stated his client might not have been privy to the extent of his fatigue

The court awarded the overall claim of $1.25 million

"Perhaps many people would be wary of attempting a five-hour drive after completing a fourth consecutive 12-hour night shift. But the statistics … support that this was commonplace among mine workers," the magistrate said in a Supreme Court of Queensland document

"The 2008 study showed that 81 per cent of mine workers drove alone in their cars after finishing their roster"

In the course of the civil trial in July, professor Drew Dawson from CQ University gave evidence about the difficulties for mining companies in drawing up regulations to control fatigue-related crashes

Professor Dawson told the court that since a parliamentary inquiry in 2001, mining companies had attempted to codify and regulate solutions

But he said those rules would often not take into account real-life situations and the latest scientific knowledge

After court, CFMEU Mining and Energy Division president Steve Smyth described the case as a "landmark decision" which could change the way mining companies manage fatigue

"The mines have been having incidents when workers have dozed off, micro-sleeps, but this is a landmark decision because the Supreme Court's actually made a decision and ruled on it and it's going to have the ripple effect and other effects through the industry now," he said

"Industry is going to have to get their heads together and work out how they deal with it, not give it lip service, but give it the appropriate vigilance it requires to get it right"

If you are concerned about fatigue in your workplace contact ISOsafe today on 1300 789 132 to learn more about how we can protect your business. ISOsafe look after employers and business owners - dont risk non-compliance