SIMEC Mining crew creates history with emergency response victory

Years of hard work culminates in overall trophy victory

SIMEC Mining’s emergency response team created history on the weekend of October 19-20 as it claimed victory at the South Australian Mines Emergency Response Competition (SAMERC) at Roxby Downs.

Taking on the big players of the industry, including three teams from BHP, the SIMEC crew hoisted the overall winner’s SAMERC Perpetual Trophy for the first time ever while Graeme Nolan made it a memorable double when he was crowned Best Captain at the annual event.

Along the way, the SIMEC team took out the honours in the categories of Theory; Breathing Apparatus Search & Rescue and Road Crash Rescue while placing second in First Aid and Fire Fighting and picking up third place in Vertical Rescue and Team Skills.

This result shows that we are now the equal of our peers in this regard and compare favourably to the best emergency response teams in our industry

SIMEC Mining Health & Safety Manager Steve Player

Team manager Mark Bishop paid tribute to the 2024 team while also praising the 2023 outfit and those before that had helped build the culture and competitive edge that led to this year’s triumph. The form line was there for SIMEC having performed brilliantly at last year’s event hosted in Whyalla.

“We really created some momentum in our own backyard last year and that continued this year at Roxby Downs for the 2024 event,” Mark said.

“Since entering SAMERC for the first time in 2018 the ability of our teams and members has grown consistently culminating this year with the overall win.”

Once selected, the SIMEC team trained hard together for five days before making the long trek to the desert mining town of Roxby Downs which presented its own challenges in regard to the heat and isolation.

“The event set-up was well thought out and planned but the hot conditions presented a challenge especially at the end of the second day when our team completed the Breathing Apparatus Search & Rescue event,” Mark said.

“There was stifling conditions in the  BA structure during this exercise and the crew probably lost a few kilos in the process before coming away with a critical win in this event.

“This was just one of the challenges with ten events where team members needed to have intimate knowledge of their tools and processes, ability to stay safe in a crisis while sticking to their roles in the team but also showing flexibility to adapt under the dynamic situation.

“Overall the team culture was fantastic, the crew bonded brilliantly and the results were there to see with our best ever performance in the history of this event.”

Since entering SAMERC for the first time in 2018 the ability of our teams and members has grown consistently culminating in this year with the overall win

Team manager Mark Bishop

SIMEC Mining Health & Safety Manager Steve Player, who has been a long-term supporter of the ERT program and the SAMERC event, said he couldn’t be prouder of the team and its achievements.

“We started this journey several years ago to lift the standard of our emergency response training, and the level of competence of our emergency responders,” Steve said.

“We have upgraded much of our equipment, but also bought in a contract partner in Fire and Safety Australia (FSA) to reintroduce professional Emergency Services Officers (ESO’s) at our sites and to deliver best practice emergency response training.

“Attending the SAMERC events has provided great exposure to lifelike scenarios for our teams and provided the opportunity for them to compete against and learn from the best.

“This result shows that we are now the equal of our peers in this regard and compare favourably to the best emergency response teams in our industry.

“We had just the one ESO in our team this year, the rest were all volunteer members of our ERT program from across our operations, so this result is particularly pleasing.”

SIMEC Mining Executive General Manager Greg McMillan (acting in the role while Jacqui Higgins is on leave), congratulated the team and reserved a special mention for captain Graeme Nolan, along with team manager Mark Bishop and Steve Player for his ongoing leadership in supporting the team.

“Graeme showed his excellent leadership skills last year in Whyalla and stepped it up a notch at this year’s event to take out the top individual award,” Greg said.

“This team was made up from many different parts of the operation, including contractors- Golding, SRG and Fire and Safety Australia, and Graeme was able to bring them together seamlessly to produce an amazing team performance.

“Mark Bishop is the unsung hero … not only was he one of the leaders in organising last year’s event in Whyalla, this year he was there again, making sure the team had everything it needed to perform at its very best.”

Nine teams in total, including Oceana Gold from New Zealand, competed at Roxby Downs over two days, testing emergency skills, knowledge and response strategies and sharing learnings and building relationships between mining operations and the local community.

The awards and teams

The award ceremony recognised the winners in each category – Theory (SIMEC Mining), First Aid (BHP Olympic Dam), Fire Fighting (Oceana Gold), Vertical Rescue (BHP Prominent Hill), Team Skills (BHP Carrapateena), BA Search & Rescue (SIMEC Mining), Industrial Rescue (BHP Olympic Dam), Road Crash Rescue (SIMEC Mining), Confined Space Rescue (BHP Olympic Dam), Underground Rescue (Cadia, Newmont), Best Captain (Graeme Nolan SIMEC Mining), Chairmans Award (Hillgrove Resources) and the overall competition winner (SIMEC Mining).

The 2024 SIMEC Mining team was: captain Graeme Nolan, Matt Gulin (medic), Brendan Schwenke, Adam Acton, James Weir, Scott Murphy and Matthew Vlachoulis. Teams competing were BHP Olympic Dam, BHP Prominent Hill, BHP Carrapateena, SIMEC Mining, Hillgrove Resources Kanmantoo, Iluka Jacinth Ambrosia, Newmont Cadia, Oceana Gold NZ and CSA Mine.

Main image: The SIMEC Mining Emergency Response Team with its trophies after the SAMERC. Top right: The SIMEC Mining team prepares for competition at Roxby Downs. Middle right: The SIMEC team in action. Middle right: Graeme Nolan (right) receives his Best Captain award. Above right: SIMEC’s haul of trophies.