A worker remains in a critical condition after being struck by a vehicle during a workplace incident at the Crinum underground coal mine in Queensland’s Central Highlands on Saturday 12 September 2026.
Resources Safety and Health Queensland (RSHQ) confirmed the incident occurred at the mine, part of the Gregory Crinum Complex located 60 kilometres north-east of Emerald, which is owned and operated by Sojitz Blue.
A worker was critically injured in the accident, with preliminary information indicating it involved maintenance work addressing the failure of a component in a pressurised compressed-air pipeline system, and subsequent contact between the worker and a drift runner.
Emergency services were called to the mine at around 10 am on Saturday.
The injured man, a 71-year-old, was carrying out pipework maintenance while standing on the bumper of a mine vehicle, understood to be a drift runner, when a clamp and pipe assembly failed.
The failure released compressed air and created significant dust, reducing visibility at the site, and the worker fell from the vehicle.
The operator of the drift runner then moved the machine and struck the fallen worker.
He was treated for significant chest, facial, arm and abdominal injuries.
He was initially taken to hospital in Emerald before being transferred to Rockhampton, and was later flown to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition.
RSHQ said the circumstances of the incident are still being established.
“RSHQ is investigating the incident and we have issued directives to isolate the scene and suspend certain operations until they can be performed to an acceptable level of risk,” a spokesperson said.
The regulator has released a safety alert to the wider mining industry, providing preliminary information and guidance to help other sites identify and address similar risks around pressurised systems and mobile equipment.
Operations at the mine were suspended in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
Sojitz Blue has since begun a staged recommencement of activity at the Crinum underground mine as RSHQ’s investigation continues, with the regulator lifting its directive to suspend particular operations.
This is not the first serious safety incident at the Crinum site.
In September 2021, contractor Graham Dawson was killed in a rock fall while undertaking roof support work in a conveyor roadway at the mine.
Contractor Mastermyne was later fined $7 million over the death, the first successful prosecution for industrial manslaughter under Queensland’s mining safety and health legislation, which came into effect in 2020.
The District Court of Queensland also ordered the company to pay the regulator’s investigation costs of $300,000.
RSHQ has an inspector and an investigator assigned to the current inquiry into Saturday’s incident.
No further details on potential breaches or contributing factors have been released while the investigation is ongoing.
