SAFETY & HEALTH
Safety is a core guiding principal at Coronado. We are committed to providing and maintaining a safe working environment, and to continually improving our safety performance.
To achieve this commitment, Coronado has adopted a safety risk management framework designed to identify and assess safety risks to ensure that suitable measures are identified, implemented and reviewed. In doing so, we recognise the important of consultation and ongoing promotion of safety awareness. Our core values are based on the premises that we must care for ourselves, our co-workers and our company and that nothing comes before the safety of anyone that enters any of our mines.
Coronado recognises that an excellent health and safety record is key to attracting and retaining high quality people. We strive to build a culture where every person feels free to report hazards and to ensure that work practices are efficient, effective and logical, whilst fostering the belief that all incidents and accidents are preventable.
AUSTRALIAN OPERATIONS
Curragh’s safety and health is managed through the Safety and Health Management System (SHMS). Subject matter experts and stakeholders across our workforce are engaged in the development and implementation of our SHMS to ensure it meets the needs of our business as well as our legal compliance obligations.
Starting mid 2021, Curragh embarked on a journey to improve the safety culture across the mine site. In June 2022, Curragh launched a set of rules (called “Our Life Savings Rules”) which set clear expectations about safety behaviours in the workplace. These seven rules, shown below, were developed using learnings from previous serious events which have occurred throughout the mining and quarry industries, including at Curragh.
Our Life Saving Rules is one of a package of works that is being delivered which is aimed at improving our safety culture at Curragh Mine. In conjunction with the Fatal Risk and FELT leadership programs, they provide clarity on expectations and the critical controls in place to ensure everyone who enters our site goes home safely at the end of each day.

U.S. OPERATIONS
Our emphasis on safety standards play a key role in delivering high efficiency levels at our U.S. Operations. Our Total Reportable Incident Rate (TRIR) was 2.51 in 2021, well below the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) national average of 4.90 for Underground Mines. Our Buchanan operation has historically maintained a high-level safety standard and in 2021 the TRIR incident rate was 2.84, well below peer mines and the industry national average of 4.90. Notably, Greenbrier’s result for 2021 was 0.00. We are proud of these results and are committed to improving our safety performance further across our portfolio.
COVID-19 RESPONSE
In 2021, Australian operations continued stringent COVID-19 controls to ensure a safe operation was maintained and compliance with government regulations. The management of COVID-19 continued to present challenges as Australia transitioned from a zero-COVID-19 strategy to living with COVID-19 in late 2021. Our operational response was managed via our COVID-19 Trigger Action Response Plan which was developed in consultation with our appointed medical advisor to align with Queensland Health requirements.
Social distancing, mask wearing, limiting personnel numbers in vehicles, and a mine site access approval process were some of the controls applied to reduce the operations exposure to COVID-19 during 2021. As domestic borders reopened in late 2021 community transmission increased. Site management plans, worker education and vaccination programs, implemented in advance, ensured that the risk to the workforce remained low. Coronado remains committed to promoting vaccination to the Curragh workforce through COVID-19 education, promotion of local government vaccination clinics and targeted vaccination and booster clinics for employees and contractors within our accommodation facilities.
In 2021 the U.S. operations maintained policies to protect employees from the virus. This included a no visitor policy; restricted travel; staggered start/stop times for mining shifts in order to reduce the number of miners present at one time; and masking while in bathhouses, close proximity underground transportation and elevators. Temperature screenings were also undertaken at each entrance to our property. These measures were implemented and removed during the year, based on local infection rates and Government guidelines. The COVID-19 Steering Committee met frequently through the year as needed to address the changing conditions locally.
Case Studies
The U.S. Operations were heavily impacted by COVID-19 in 2021, with several employees hospitalised, and two of our employees losing their lives after contracting the virus. We had a total of 376 employees test positive, and 770 employees ...
On 28 January 2022, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) granted Buchanan Mine #1 the option to use a revolutionary new device called the CleanSpace EX Powered Respirator in the working faces of our coal mine. This is industry ...
Black lung, silicosis, and Progressive Massive Fibrosis (PMF) continue to be a focal point in the US mining industry. In 2019, US Operations conducted 7,755 respirable dust samples on our miners. The process of monitoring and collecting data ...
We believe that our people’s mental wellbeing is equally as important as their physical wellbeing. That’s why we introduced a mental health working group comprising a cross-section of employees to lead the roll out ...