Mining in Australia has become increasingly hazardous in recent years. Safe Work Australia recorded 11 deaths in 2024, nearly double the six deaths from the year before. Sadly, Australian mines are tough on equipment, and many deaths happen because equipment fails when workers don’t expect it.
At RUD Chains, we’ve worked with Australian mines for decades, and we keep seeing the same problems. We know what fails, why it fails, and the best way to fix it.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the most common lifting equipment failures in mining. You’ll also see how to detect early warning signs and set up effective maintenance plans.
Read on to learn how to handle common lifting equipment failures and keep your gear reliable.
Recognising Common Mining Safety Failures
In mines, equipment often collapses because chains stretch, wire ropes fray, and fluid systems leak. Workers need to notice these warning signs early so problems do not grow into accidents.
What’s worse is that adverse mining conditions speed up these breakdowns. For instance, dust clogs moving parts, and constant shaking loosens bolts. Also, heavy loads push every piece of gear to its limit (machines don’t get coffee breaks).
Now let’s go through some of the biggest warning signs that show your gear might be in serious trouble.
Mechanical Wear on Key Components
The fact is, parts that take the most strain almost always fail first, and wire ropes are a good example of that. You’ll notice they start to fray right where they bend again and again. When that happens, single wires snap and stick out. That detail makes the rope unsafe to touch.
Though, the real danger is when the wear eats away more than 15% of the rope’s normal diameter. At that stage, the rope is simply too unsafe, and you should remove it immediately.
Chain links also cause problems when workers overload them. Honestly, a small stretch of up to 5% is still fine, but anything more than that means you must get rid of the sling from service.
And unfortunately, that’s not the end of it. You might also observe cuts, dents, and bent links when falling objects hit the gear. Hooks give trouble, too, especially when someone uses them the wrong way or forces them into tight spaces.
Structural and Hydraulic System Faults
So far, we have looked at the wear and tear on chains, ropes, and hooks. But the larger systems bring even greater risks. For example, hydraulic hoses can burst without warning, particularly on hot days. In many cases, worn seals or loose fittings are behind these leaks.
Next up, the frame and arms carry their own hidden dangers. For one, stress builds with every lift, and sooner or later, small cracks start to creep in. The trouble is, those cracks rarely stay small. They keep spreading until the structure finally gives way.
And let’s not forget the electrics. Vibration, damp conditions, and poor connections often knock out wiring. The outcome is never convenient. One bad line can shut down the whole system, which can stop work for hours or even days.
Pro-Tip: Train your crew to log even the smallest issues right away. A loose bolt, a strange vibration, or a faint oil smell might not stop work today, but tracking these details creates a record that helps you spot patterns and fix problems before they turn serious.
Proactive Lifting Equipment Maintenance Tactics
A good maintenance plan includes early fault detection, regular oil changes, and high quality sensors. These steps save money on repairs and keep your workers safer on site (safety first, savings second… both feel good).
We’ll now explain how daily checks, regular servicing, and monitoring tools ensure the safety and reliability of your equipment.
Implementing a Preventive Maintenance Schedule
When you enforce a policy to ensure frequent, scheduled inspections, it allows you to detect mechanical issues early. More importantly, if you can catch the problems while they’re still small, they’ll be cheaper to fix.
Here are three ways you can implement a preventive maintenance practice:
- Daily Operator Checks: Ask your workers to walk around the equipment before each shift. They should check for oil leaks, strange noises, loose bolts, or any damage that looks risky. This simple habit stops more than half the failures.
- Regular Lubrication: Mechanics should oil chains, bearings, and moving parts on schedule. Proper lubrication of machinery is vital for minimising friction and wear between moving parts.
- Periodic Expert Inspections: It’s important to do deep checks every few weeks with special tools, and your trained experts should do this job. The goal here should be to find stress cracks and wear patterns that daily checks miss. These inspections reduce the risk of sudden equipment failures.
Using Condition-Based Monitoring Tools
Modern sensors can track heat, vibration, and oil quality to identify trouble before equipment fails. For example, vibration checks play a huge role here. They pick up worn bearings or loose parts early, which gives your crew time to fix problems before they shut everything down.
These approaches below will tell you when your equipment needs care:
- Vibration Analysis: Sensors feel how much equipment shakes and rattles to find worn bearings or loose parts. Unlike just looking, vibration sensors catch inside problems 3-6 months before total failure, and they give you time to plan fixes properly.
- Oil Analysis: Lab staff should check oil for metal bits, water, or signs of chemical breakdown. These clues give you an idea of when parts are wearing out or no longer working properly. And here’s the kicker: an oil test may cost about $50, but it can save you from a $50,000 engine rebuild.
- Thermal Imaging: These sensors help you catch overheating parts, bad wiring, and cooling blockages before they cause fires or shutdowns. The best part is they only take minutes to use, yet they reveal problems that once took hours to spot.
Put simply, condition-based monitoring keeps your gear safe and running… unless you ignore the warning signs and let small issues explode into costly failures.
Achieve Higher Reliability And Cost Savings
So far, we’ve looked at daily checks, scheduled servicing, and smart sensors. Then we have equipment health monitoring for higher reliability. This monitoring not only helps you fix problems early but also shows the value of your safety programme to insurers, regulators, and leaders.
Companies that track this type of monitoring data properly save millions and keep their operations running safely (fewer breakdowns mean more time home with the family).
Maintenance also takes up a huge part of the budget. In mining, 35% to 50% of yearly costs often go to equipment care and repair. That’s why the data you collect from condition monitoring is one of the best tools you have when things go wrong.
Let’s see how tracking equipment health data cuts costs and increases reliability:
- Extended Asset Lifespans: Monitoring data shows you the exact time to replace parts, and equipment lasts longer when you fix the right problems at the right time. The extra life pushes back expensive new purchases for years and saves a lot of money.
- Improved Budget Forecasting: In reality, mining companies save 25% to 30% on maintenance by ordering parts ahead of time and scheduling repairs during planned downtime. Condition monitoring helps you here because it tells you when malfunctions may happen months in advance.
- Optimised Parts Inventory: Seriously, sensors often give three to six months’ warning before failures. With that kind of notice, you can stock the right parts only when you need them. From our experience, mines can save money this way by cutting inventory costs by about 20%.
Mining Equipment Reliability Through Proactive Maintenance
Equipment failures in Australian mines follow predictable patterns. If you can identify these problems early through daily checks, regular maintenance, and condition monitoring systems, you can easily prevent accidents and save money.
In this guide, we’ve shown you how to detect common failures like chain stretching and wire rope fraying. You’ve also learned how to create effective maintenance schedules and use condition monitoring tools to predict problems before they happen.
Are you ready to make your lifting equipment a reliable asset? Contact RUD Chains today for Grade 120 chain slings, custom lifting points, and engineering expertise that keeps Australian mines running safely and productively.
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