A failed park brake piston seal was all it took to reduce a Whitehaven EH5000 dump truck to ashes – and the lesson, as Greg Fenton told the Mechanical Engineering Safety Seminar (MESS 2025), is one that should alarm every mining professional running large electric-drive fleets.
A recent ammonia leak at a Western Australian manufacturing site has brought renewed attention to emergency release systems and operator response protocols after a shear coupling failed during a routine loading operation—triggering a toxic release that could have resulted in serious harm.
