Secure it before you unfasten it: what a Western Australian maintenance prosecution says about work instructions

On 6 October 2026 WorkSafe, the work health and safety regulator of Western Australia, published a media release on a prosecution under the state’s Work Health and Safety Act. The Albany Magistrates Court fined FQM Australia Nickel Pty Ltd after a worker suffered a serious spinal injury during maintenance at the Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation processing plant on 18 March 2023. The company pleaded guilty to contravening sections 19(1) and 31(1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2020.

According to the release, workers were changing out a heavy component known as a Roman Shield on the Saprolite Stacker, a conveyor stacker that carried nickel ore to stockpiles. The injured worker and two co-workers unfastened the Roman Shield without first securing it against uncontrolled movement. It rotated backwards and struck him, pinning him against part of the structure. He needed spinal fusion surgery and, the regulator says, continues to experience ongoing pain and reduced mobility.

What was missing was a step

The release is specific about what the task lacked. The company did not instruct the workers to secure the Roman Shield before unfastening it, did not warn them of the risk of uncontrolled movement, and did not instruct them to stay clear of the line of fire. The Job Hazard Analysis for the task did not include those controls, and the allocated supervisor did not directly supervise the work.

The regulator also records what happened afterwards. The company engaged a specialist safety consultant, developed Roman Shield-specific risk assessment procedures and work instructions, introduced more comprehensive Job Hazard Analyses and enhanced training programs for new employees and supervisors. In July 2024 it placed the operation into care and maintenance.

Read in order, that is the sequence most plants face after an incident like this: first the missing step is written into a task-specific instruction, then people have to learn that instruction well enough to follow it on a component they may change out only rarely.

Rehearsing a change-out before it happens

That second half is where VARDIX works. We distribute ROQED Mechanicum, a 3D maintenance and repair training platform for heavy industry. Equipment is rebuilt as photorealistic 3D models, and a trainee opens it the way a maintenance crew would: part by part, in the order the instruction gives.

A course is built from the plant’s own maintenance, repair or HSE instructions, with tasks allocated by job and specialty, and the trainee performs the steps with the tools the job needs. The model can be taken apart as often as training needs, on a screen or in a VR headset, while the real unit keeps working. The same courses run on PC, mobile, VR headsets and industrial panels, and the platform can be integrated with a customer’s existing ERP or learning management system.

The limit should be stated plainly. A 3D course does not replace a Job Hazard Analysis, supervision on the day, or securing the component on site. It can only rehearse a step that has been written down; if the instruction does not say “secure before unfastening”, neither will the course. What it adds is the chance to practise the written order on the model, before the next change-out, rather than learning it on the machine.

For distributors

ROQED Mechanicum is a distributor product: the plant is the buyer, the partner holds the territory, and VARDIX runs the support chain. If you already sell to mining, processing or heavy-industry sites, the partnership form below is the place to start.