Pike River mine re-entry and emergency mine re-entry guidelines application and learnings

Prior to the Pike River Mine Disaster the Queensland Mines Rescue Service and The NSW Mines Rescue Service undertook a project to develop a guideline and a practical prototype software tool to demonstrate how decision makers could be better assisted during a mine emergency which required re-entry to the mine by competent mines rescue trained personnel. The research and development of the prototype software tool (funded through ACARP grant C19010) coincided with the unfortunate events at Pike River Mine on and after the 19th November 2010. This paper will discuss the relationship between this project‟s outcomes and the re-entry strategy and operation at the Pike River Mine, along with learning‟s the researchers gained from this operation undertaken by the New Zealand Mines Rescue Service and Pike River Coal Limited (in receivership).