Queensland’s resource workers are being urged to report incidents after a new animation was released explaining the significance of high potential incidents (HPIs) in maintaining safety standards.
The animation, created by the Resources Safety & Health Queensland (RSHQ), defines HPIs as near-miss incidents that could have resulted in serious injury or death but were avoided.
It emphasises that reporting such incidents provides an opportunity to learn and improve safety practices.
RSHQ CEO Rob Djukic stressed the importance of incident reporting in reducing serious harm in the resources industry.
He highlighted that the regulator’s goal is not to increase incidents but to create a learning culture where lessons from incidents can be applied across the industry.
“We know some people struggle with the idea that the regulator wants to see an increase in reported incidents; it might sound counter-intuitive to reducing harm.
“We’ve intentionally made the animation without using a mining example so industry workers don’t get hung up on one relatable incident. By using an everyday example anyone can relate to, we are aiming to show how transferrable lessons can be found in any incident,” said Djukic.
The 2020 Brady Review, which examined fatal accidents in Queensland mines and quarries from 2000-2019, identified the under-reporting of incidents as an issue.
Since then, RSHQ has worked to improve reporting practices.
“We encourage mines and quarries to report HPIs and when they do, we can support them in their response and share their lessons for the benefit of workers across the whole industry.
“At the end of the day, a reporting culture is a learning culture and this is critical to improving safety,” said Djukic.
Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals Scott Stewart emphasised that safety should be the top priority for everyone in the industry.
He praised the animation as an important educational tool to increase reporting of near-miss incidents and improve safety outcomes.
“We want to see a decrease in serious harm to workers, the way to do this is by increasing reporting of and learning from near-miss incidents.
“That’s why this animation put together by RSHQ is an important tool,” said Minister Stewart.
The HPI animation will be circulated to all mines and quarries for educational purposes.
