• Theory
• Spence Herd Challenge
• First aid
• Rope rescue
• Team skills
• Breathing apparatus practical
• Fire fighting
• Search and rescue

The Theory exercise tests each team’s knowledge of the principles of mine rescue.

The Spence Herd Challenge is specifically designed to test, encourage and develop team cohesion and values that transform a group of individuals into a slick operating unit.

The remaining exercise apply the range of mine rescue skills in exercises designed to be realistic and challenging that simulate as nearly as possible real emergency situations that could occur in a mine. The tasks are as stressing, taxing and real as possible. Whether it is noise, aggressive patients, wet, darkness, inaccessible or hidden patients, the demands are all very real. To top all that off the teams have a time limit in which to complete each exercise.

In addition the Team Captain’s Award recognises good team leadership and the Overall Safety Award recognises the team with the best overall safety performance.

• First Aid
• Fire Fighting
• Skills
• Industrial Rescue

The same principles of realism and challenge that apply to the underground competition also apply to the surface competition. As with the underground competition, the Team Captain’s Award recognises good team leadership and the Overall Safety Award recognises the team with the best overall safety performance.

• Commitment
• Excellence
• Fellowship
• Sharing of Knowledge

TWe encourage teams to think creatively and with initiative. We score teams on their merit, skills and ability at using their own equipment to its best advantage and how they accomplish a given task.

We encourage flexibility in achieving excellence in all facets of mine rescue. The team with the best skills, commitment and attitude will always outperform teams that simply have the most expensive equipment.

The Competition provides an excellent learning opportunity for all participants and is one of the best practical ways in which teams can learn from experienced adjudicators and gain valuable insight into alternate rescue methods from contact with other teams, not only from sites with different mining methods, but sites from different parts of the country.

Team members, with the support of their families, colleagues and employers, contribute significantly in the promotion of mine rescue and safety within the industry and the dedication these personnel show is outstanding.

We hope that teams gain experience from the competition and value the opportunity to achieve excellence alongside their peers.

Our Mine Rescue Competitions rely on the great support of their network of contributors.

The guys and girls who put in the effort to train and develop their emergency response skills; their trainers and supporters; management of the mines; the network of emergency response professionals, state emergency response organisations and organisations providing emergency response services; designers of exercises; exercise adjudicators; scorers; make-up artists; exercise casualties; lunch providers; logistics organisers; helpers at the exercise sites; the organising committee; and the list goes on. We all play our part.

On behalf of the Minerals Council of Australia, thanks to everyone who is involved in the competitions. Your efforts contribute to the safety of everyone in the mining industry.