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Safety legacy continues at merged Muswellbrook and Mt Thorley Workshop Facility






The Muswellbrook team joined the Mt Thorley operations teams following the closure of the Muswellbrook Workshop Facility earlier this year. It marked the end of an intense re-build program to supply fit for purpose, compliant equipment to Hunter Valley projects.


Thiess’ Asset Manager Mt Thorley Depot Tony Gilmour applauded the teams’ shared and focused effort to prioritise safety.


“It demonstrates our people are invested in our everyone safe everyday vision and are applying their high safety standards wherever they go,” Tony said.


“We’ve hit these targets because our people role model the One HSE behaviour framework and follow our TSE requirements to a tee.”


A new look team


The Mt Thorley Workshop Facility has approximately 30 team members, made up of employees, sub-contractors and Thiess On Site Maintenance Labour (OMS).


Together, they are responsible for the successful maintenance and refurbishment requirements of Thiess assets in the Hunter Valley. This includes:




Offsite repairs and maintenance support for Mt Arthur, Mt Pleasant, Mt Owen 


FleetCo United Joint Venture project, Peabody Wambo Project, and others


Operating a central distribution centre for parts and warehouse storage on the East Coast of Australia.




Looking back - celebrating Muswellbrook Workshop Facility


The Muswellbrook Workshop Facility, located 45 minutes from Mt Thorley, was designed as a temporary facility.


“Muswellbrook opened in August 2017 as part of a rebuild program to support all Hunter Valley operations to provide compliant assets in line with MDG guidelines under the NSW Mines Act and Regulations,” Tony said.


“As a greenfield site, we had to implement and maintain a solid recruitment program, build a strong safety culture, engage well with external stakeholders, and create a parts inventory system for excess parts.


“It was challenging working in such tight timeframes to meet the rigour of Thiess’ policies and procedures at the outset, but we’re proud of what we achieved.”


In the three years of operations at Muswellbrook, the team recorded zero lost-time injuries and only one medically treated injury.


“It’s this consistency each day that sets a culture and a standard you want to emulate – that drives our safety success.


“Our leaders set the tone and I’d like to call out Brett Halliwell and Aaron Skinner for their strong leadership, which has directly contributed to these positive outcomes.”


Click here to see Muswellbrook highlights.


Muswellbrook highlights


From 21 August 2017 to 5 May 2020, the Muswellbrook team completed refurbishments or repairs to: 




58 off-road mining trucks (Cat 789, Cat 793, Cat 777)


19 dozers (D10, D11)


6 graders


8 ancillary equipment




For more information about the workshop transition or the Mt Thorley operations, contact tgilmore@thiess.com.au