Colliery pays its respects to employees
Tahmoor Coking Coal upholds the highest safety standards and care for its employees, however, it is an unfortunate fact that some serious, and sometimes fatal, workplace accidents happen in mining.
Fortunately, due to our ever-improving safety protocols, there hasn’t been a fatality at Tahmoor since last century. Our goal is to maintain this record for the remainder of mining at Tahmoor Colliery.
The six men who passed deserve to be recognised, and I hope their stories remind all of us to prioritise safety in everything we do
Executive General Manager, Peter Vale
Safety awareness plays a big role in maintaining this fatality-free record and keeping all incidents to an absolute minimum. That includes learning from the past as well as paying tribute to those who lost their lives.
Tahmoor’s remembrance and call to awareness now takes the form of an on-site tribute to pay respect to the six lives lost over Tahmoor Coking Coal’s 43-year history.
The memorial has been constructed atop a bed of coal, displaying winder wheels used in the construction of number 2 shaft, where the first three men lost their lives. The wheels adorn metal plates between their spokes with the names of the men who passed including Sime Marcella 1977, John A.M Rothwell 1977, Mick Batty 1977, Mick Penny 1985, Kim Sherrell 1994, and Dave Hill 1999.
Tahmoor employees Jeff Brown and Mark Cresswell organised the design and build of the memorial.
“I wanted to do something for the people that have passed here and their families, to remember their contribution to our history,” Mark said.
Executive General Manager, Peter Vale, was supportive of the idea, hoping it reminded the men and women working underground today, that safety is paramount.
“The six men who passed deserve to be recognised, and I hope their stories remind all of us to prioritise safety in everything we do,” Peter said.
The memorial can be found on the lawn of the reception building, serving as a reminder to work safe, go home safe.
Main picture and above right: The memorial installed at Tahmoor Coking Coal commemorating those that have lost their lives at the colliery.
Read more about safety at Tahmoor
