Managing Major Hazards

In 1994, 11 men died in an explosion at Moura underground coal mine in Australia. The author shows that the explosion was the result of organizational failure and uses it to draw lessons about managing major hazards. He demonstrates how organizations can gather information and react appropriately.

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Many organizations live with hazards that have the potential to cause disaster. This was the case at Moura underground coal mine in Central Queensland, Australia, where 11 men died in an explosion in 1994. The author of this text shows that the explosion was the result of organizational failure and uses it to draw lessons about managing major hazards. He argues that there are always tell-tale signs of impending disaster and that organizations need to find ways of gathering this information and reacting to it appropriately. The Moura story also demonstrates the need to move responsiblity for risk management up the corporate heirarchy to ensure that it is not overshadowed by production pressures. Otherwise, Hopkins asserts, disasters will repeat themselves in horrifyingly similar ways.