Recent site visits by the NSW resources regulator have identified repeated instances of mobile crushing and screening equipment being operated with lanyard emergency stop circuits bypassed using travel plugs or travel mode switches.
NSW Resources said that this practice – whether intentional or unintentional – disables a critical safety control designed to stop plant movement during an emergency, exposing workers to serious risk of injury or death.
In all of the cases investigated, the issue was only identified after requesting a live test of the lanyard system. Visual inspection alone would have suggested the system was functional.
Pre-start inspections were recorded as completed, with workers indicating that lanyards were operational, despite the systems being bypassed. Notably, the fixed emergency stop push buttons still functioned in travel mode, creating a false sense of compliance.
An additional issue flagged was that there were no identification labels on plugs, with staff on one site unable to identify which plug was the travel plug.
NSW Resources says that mine operators and other persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) should:
- Inspect all mobile crushing and screening equipment to ensure lanyard circuits are fully functional and not bypassed by travel plugs or switches
- Verify the function of lanyard systems through live testing, not just visual inspection
- Educate workers and contractors on the risks of operating in travel mode and how to correctly identify and use travel plugs
- Review pre-start inspection procedures to include explicit checks for travel mode and lanyard operation
- Review maintenance inspections and service sheets to include checks on lanyards circuits.