A mining company has been fined after a worker in outback Western Australia suffered serious injuries when she was attacked by dingoes while on her lunch break.
The woman had been working as a contractor in July 2018 at Newcrest Mining’s Telfer gold, copper and silver mine in the Great Sandy Desert.
WA’s mining regulator said the worker was eating a sandwich in an outside barbeque area at the mine site when a young dingo jumped up on a table.
Another two dingoes then arrived, ignoring her attempts to shoo them away and prompting her to put what was left of her sandwich in a bin.
“The employee then noticed the young dingo had her phone, before it dropped it near a hedge,” WA’s Department of Mining, Industry Resources and Safety said on Thursday.
“When she stepped forward to pick the phone up, the two other dingoes attacked her.
“Other employees heard her screams and came to assist.”
The woman was treated on-site for cuts and wounds to multiple parts of her body before being flown to Port Hedland Hospital and eventually Royal Perth Hospital.
She was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
ASX-listed company Newcrest Mining has been fined $105,000 over the incident and ordered to pay $6255 in costs.
“Employers must ensure their staff members are not only safe in their work roles, but in the accommodation associated with mining operations,” DMIRS acting mines director Sally North said.
“There have been several incidents recorded at Telfer, including four others where staff members were bitten.”
DMIRS said Newcrest had since built appropriate fencing and isolated and secured rubbish bins.
It had also implemented education sessions reinforcing to staff members what to do if approached by a dingo.
Source of information Channel 7,
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Its content does not necessarily reflect the views of Industroquip.
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