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- [Narrator] The Lightning Ridge area,
poses its own unique challenges and risks.
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Falls from heights, are one of the main risks,
with significant consequences.
Opal miners need to stay safe,
to avoid serious injury or death.
In 2018, Chris who was mining at Mehi,
received serious injuries
when he fell approximately nine meters in an Opal shaft,
and struck the hoist bucket.
- So I attempted to come up the ladder.
So I got 30-foot up, and I had another 18-foot to go,
and that was it.
I just blacked out for a moment
and found myself in the bottom of the shaft in the bucket.
So the damage had been two smashed ankles and my femur.
It's still fairly raw, it does affect me.
I still have nightmares of it,
of the fall, wake up and when you've hit the bottom.
And I don't think that's sort of gonna go away too soon.
- [Narrator] Despite reoccurring serious injuries
and fatalities, many miners work alone,
without fully appreciating
the risks of falls when working from height.
- I was very lucky.
It's the first time,
in the five years I brought anybody out with me.
I brought my grandson out, he was 19.
So I was very fortunate that he was here,
and I could call out to him for him to go and get help.
It's good having somebody else with you, out here.
I guess, sitting down there you cannot move,
you start thinking about things, you know, like
I guess I knew I was fortunate I didn't die.
- [Narrator] Those working in opal fields
need to remember that serious injuries
and deaths cause a ripple effect
that impacts friends, colleagues, and loved ones.
In 2020, Brian who was mining at Grawin,
was fatally injured at his Opal claim.
- It was horrific because you don't expect it.
It was too sudden.
We did not sleep that night.
I couldn't believe it.
I just could not believe it.
And I think even to this very day, eight months later,
his friends don't believe it.
They're traumatized.
Friends can't get a handle on, he's not coming home.
That cheeky smile, that legend of a man,
has left us all broken.
I'm asking you to take care, family need you.
He was my life and now I'm traumatized, anxious,
lonely and broken, because I miss him so much.
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- [Narrator] New South Wales resources regulator,
has implemented a compliance program
that provides assistance and education
to over 3,000 claim holders in Lightning Ridge,
and the surrounding areas.
Inspectors are committed to improving the work,
health and safety of people,
who are mining for Opal in New South Wales.
Opal miners need to understand the importance of safety,
when accessing their mine using ladders.
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- For miners on the fields,
one of the main risks is the open shafts,
working around shafts, and falling from heights.
- That's my shaft here, the shaft is 22-foot to the roof.
So the ladders have to be in really good condition.
You need always three-point contact to the ladder
when you go up and down.
A fall from that height will be fatal
or it does a lot of damage to you.
- [Narrator] Opal miners should consider using
a fall arrest, such as a harness to improve their safety.
- I guess, what I could have done differently that day
is something that I've been always saying to myself,
is to wear a harness, where I could strap around me
and put it on the ladder going down.
But it was always one of those things
you keep putting off and putting off.
I'll never fall.
If I blacked out, I would've been hanging there,
but I wouldn't have fallen and broken anything
or maybe have killed myself, with the fall.
- [Narrator] Opal miners have to ensure
they use safe systems of work in the Opal fields.
This includes all work associated with going into,
and out of shafts and tunnels.
We want everyone to mine safely all the time.
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For more information, visit our website
resourcesregulator.nsw.gov.au.