The sister of a miner has told a court her “world just stopped” the moment she learned he had been killed on the job.
Cameron Goss was working at the Henty Gold Mine, on Tasmania’s west coast, in January 2020 when the floor collapsed beneath his loader, plunging it into a void with him still inside.
The Queenstown local died from blunt trauma to his chest and it took several weeks for his body to be recovered.
In the early hours of January 23, the bogger operator, who was working for underground contractor PYBAR, had gone to collect a load of ore but did not return.
A concerned coworker approached the area where he had been and saw “a large void”, the upside-down bogger below, and “no sign of Mr Goss”.
Another worker called out to Mr Goss, but received no response.
Mother ‘never really recovered’
In the Burnie Magistrates Court on Wednesday, Mr Goss’s sister, Tammeke Goss, delivered a tearful victim impact statement, describing the pain of him being there one minute, and gone the next.
“Cameron was my big brother, the person that I looked up to, he was my go-to person for just about everything,” she said.
“I’m not an emotional person, I never had been, I’m quite skilled at bottling things up, but after Cameron died that changed. That bottle shattered.
“When I got that call saying there had been an accident in the mine and they couldn’t find him my world just stopped.”
Ms Goss said telling her mother was “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life”, and that she “never really recovered”.
“I swear my mum died that day,” she said.
Ms Goss told the court that when her mother died in March 2023 she had “finally got her wish, she’s now with Cameron”.
Mr Goss’s wife, son, and daughter have also submitted victim impact statements.
Mine failed to ensure ground was stable, court told
Henty Gold Mine was a subsidiary of Unity Mining at the time.
In September 2023, Unity Mining pleaded guilty to an amended count of failure to comply with health and safety duty Category 2.
Today, the court heard Unity failed to ensure the stability of the drive, putting it at risk of collapse.
Prosecutor Letitia Fox said the stope Mr Goss was working above had not been properly filled.
The court heard Unity had believed rock waste and fill, known as paste, had been used.
Ms Fox said a safety assessment had been based on a document that contained incorrect information, and there was no paste.
Ms Fox said a 30-tonne bogger with a bucket that could carry another 10 tonnes “required a significant risk assessment”.
“Simply relying on one document … is not enough,” she said.
Over its life span the mine has had different owners and Ms Fox said had Unity obtained and interrogated historical mine documents, including geotechnical data, it would have been able to determine the site’s safety.
The maximum penalty for this workplace charge is $1.5 million.
Ms Fox noted the company had no prior convictions, and said while specific deterrence was not the primary concern, there was a need for general deterrence.
‘Significant’ steps taken to prevent similar tragedy
During sentencing submissions, Unity’s lawyer, Justin Zeeman told the court the defendant had entered a guilty plea at the earliest possible stage.
He said a reliance on “essentially incorrect information” led to the “tragic” event that followed.
“At the time of incident, there were systems, and quite comprehensive systems in place, in terms of work safety,” he said.
Mr Zeeman said since Mr Goss’s death, Unity had a “renewed focus” on health and safety and had taken “significant steps since the tragic incident”.
“Unity has the resources, and has implemented the resources, to ensure its ongoing compliance with work health and safety obligations,” he said.
Mr Zeeman said the mine had about 155 workers and was “an important employer for the region”.
It is due to be sentenced next month.
