In the bulletin, the Department cited five incidents involving vehicles rolling down slopes due to unapplied or faulty brakes. It cautioned operators against attempting to pursue and enter the cabs of their runaway vehicles to try and stop the vehicles. This practice may result in serious injury or death.
The safety bulletin cited various causes for such incidents, such as human error in not applying the parking brakes properly, poor parking area design with no anti-roll engineering controls, faulty brakes, failure to use wheel chocks, a combination of mass and the angle of the slope, and failure to recognise and comply with parking procedures and hazards.
It recommended that mine sites review existing legislation and develop suitable level ground designated parking areas for trucks, vehicles and mobile plants. The Department also urged operators to review their vehicle handling training, develop parking procedures and protocols, and regularly inspect their vehicles.