A former Bowen Basin mine manager charged over the death of a dozer driver who drowned in a pool of mud and water tried to have the case against him struck out. DETAILS
Timothy Neil Fuller, who was the production overburden manager at Saraji mine in the days leading up to Allan Houston’s death four and a half years ago, tried to argue the case against him “was doomed to fail”, a recent court judgment stated.
New details can be revealed in the case over the tragic death of the Gracemere father, who died on December 31, 2018 when his dozer rolled 18m down an embankment at Saraji mine, near Dysart.
His vehicle came to rest upside down in a pool of mud and water. The 49 year old was found trapped in the cabin with his seatbelt fastened and tragically did not survive.
BM Alliance Coal Operations Pty Ltd is charged with two counts of fail to discharge health and safety obligations, while one of its executives – Mr Fuller – is facing one count of the same charge. No pleas have been entered.
BMA’s Saraji Coal Mine near Moranbah
Mr Fuller has argued he was not at the mine on the day Mr Houston died, but it is alleged he failed in his health and safety obligations leading up to that date and as such breached the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999, the judgment stated.
It is alleged Mr Fuller was responsible for all truck and shovel burden excavation and drill and blast activities, as well as the management of open cut examiners, and that his responsibility extended to include dragline bench preparation.
It is also alleged BMA’s safety and health management system did not include a procedure for dozer push bench preparations.
“The presence of water and mud was not identified as a hazard”, the judgment stated.
December 31, 2018: Allan Houston was fatally injured when his bulldozer turned over at BMA’s Saraji Open Cut Coal Mine, near Moranbah.
Workplace Health and Safety prosecutors have alleged Mr Fuller should have ensured: the development of procedures for work such as dozer push bench preparation, the training and implementation of procedures for hazards coal mine workers might be exposed to, and the training and implementation of risk management procedures, the judgment stated.
It is alleged Mr Fuller’s failure in doing so caused the death of Mr Houston.
Mr Fuller tried to have the charge struck out as he was not physically at the mine when the fatality occurred – he had resigned from his role on December 5, 2018 and had left the mine on December 28 with no intention of returning.
However in late 2022 the industrial magistrate determined she did not have jurisdiction to summarily dismiss the charge.
BM Alliance Coal Operations Pty Ltd is charged with two counts of fail to discharge health and safety obligations, while one of its executives – Timothy Neil Fuller – is facing one count of the same charge.
Mr Fuller appealed that decision in the Industrial Court of Queensland in a second attempt to try and have the matter against him dropped.
“The case against Mr Fuller seems to be that while he was manager of production overburden, he was required to develop and implement a Safe Operating Procedure,” ICQ president Justice Peter Davis.
“That should have included procedures for working in and around water. While there was a safety and health management system for working in and around water, it was not implemented.”
Justice Davis said if the allegations were proven, Mr Fuller was guilty of the offence regardless if Mr Houston’s death happened after he had left the site.
Justice Davis said “preventing the prosecution of a valid complaint which has engaged the jurisdiction of the Industrial Magistrates Court, should, in my view … only be done as a last resort and where no fair trial could be had or where the further prosecution otherwise constitutes an abuse of process”.
The appeal was dismissed and the matter is currently before the Mackay Industrial Magistrates Court.