A mining company has been fined after the New Year's Eve death of a coal worker who became trapped under a bulldozer that rolled 18 metres down a bank.
BM Alliance Coal Operations was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court to charges relating to safety and health management systems that coal mine operators are required to put in place.
Allan Houston was working at the open-cut Saraji Mine near Dysart in central Queensland when the dozer he was operating drove off a bank about 10pm on December 31, 2018.
The 49-year-old became trapped, dying underneath the dozer which landed upside down in mud and water about 18m down the bank.
It was not alleged the mining company's failure caused Mr Houston's death, or the dozer to be driven over the edge or roll down the bank, Magistrate Julian Noud said.
An investigation into Mr Houston's death found a gap in the safety and health management system of the mine, the court was told.
Prosecutors said the gap, or absence of specific work instructions, created confusion for workers.
The company accepted the gap existed but told the court Mr Houston and two other dozer operators were experienced, had previously done the work they were doing at the time of the incident and had received training.
Mr Noud said the failure to include the specific instructions meant the risk to coal mine workers was not at an acceptable level.
"Whilst there has been this failure by the corporate defendant, I consider its culpability, significantly because of this lack of causal feature, falls towards the lower end of seriousness."
Mr Noud found BM Alliance had a "history of breaches" of the law, having pleaded guilty and been fined in 2007 and 2014.
But the company had taken steps to address failures since Mr Houston's death and showed understanding of the seriousness of their offending.
"I would think that there is a community interest in ensuring that corporations like the defendant comply with safety requirements," Mr Noud said.
"While I'm very mindful there is no suggestion here (that) their failure has caused Mr Houston's death, everyday people in our community undertake hazardous work, such as his, and employers like the defendant should know they must take their safety and health obligations seriously."
Mr Noud fined BM Alliance Coal Operations $78,000.
No conviction was recorded.
Mining and Energy Union president Mitch Hughes said the fine, along with the magistrate's comments that the company's culpability was towards the lower end of seriousness, was disappointing.
“$78,000 is not even a slap on the wrist for Australia’s biggest mining company,” Mr Hughes said in a statement to AAP.
“This sentencing comes in the same week that we’ve seen another fatality at a Queensland coal mine.
“We have seen too many sad examples of the tragic cost paid by workers and their families when mine operators take their eyes off the ball."
