Queensland shares mine safety expertise with the US

Queensland’s methods of monitoring mine gas have been acknowledged as being among the best in the world, Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said today.

Minister Wilson said the State Government’s Safety in Mines Testing and Research Station, known as SIMTARS, had been awarded a $350,000 contract to provide software to a leading United States mine safety institute.

“SIMTARS will share its expertise with one of the largest safety and health institutes in the world, the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, which is based in Washington DC,” Mr Wilson said.

“The institute has led major advances in mine safety and health throughout the world and now their researchers will be drawing on the best of Queensland’s expertise in mine safety,” he said.

Minister Wilson said Queensland’s gas monitoring system, long considered one of the best in the world, is used extensively in underground coal mines here and in New South Wales.

“The Simtars team has done the hard yards over many years to produce a state-of-the-art gas monitoring system that can quickly and reliably analyse the gas atmosphere in a mine,” Mr Wilson said.

Media contact: Minister’s office 3224 7332.