Isabella Taylor

4.45 AM

Alarm goes off and I grab an egg wrap that I made the night before.

5.00 AM

check emails that are urgent from the automation team from overnight shift reports so I know what my day will look like and prepare myself for that. I like to know the mood of the environment I’m walking into.

5.05 AM

I’m dressed and walking to my car to drive to Grosvenor UG Mine Site. Thankfully it’s only a 5 min drive.

5.10 AM

Swipe in, the light has turned red today which means I need to go and see the IMO for a random drug and alcohol

5.15 AM

I’m fine to go in as I don’t drink during my work weeks so I knew I’d be fine.  The IMOs are always very friendly, and we enjoyed a good laugh.

5.20 AM

I head into the longwall office and greet everyone

5.30 AM

I go to the bathhouse; I fill up my water bottle then I get changed into the rest of my UG gear. Check out my self-rescuer and cap lamp, and put on the rest of my PPE (hard hat, gloves, mask, goggles).  Whoops! I have forgotten my pen so back I go to my desk! I go to the Go line, and fill up my water bottle.  The gear is really heavy but I am slowly getting used to it.

5.58 AM

an alarm rings for a 6.00 AM prestart meeting.  This meeting will involve talking through any incidents in the last 24 hours, then we go through a section-by-section breakdown of the day.  We do safety shares and concerns. I quickly check that I don’t have my phone, apple watch or ring on.  We cannot take down electronics underground.

6.05 AM

I jump in the drifty, which is an underground mine vehicle! It’s a very open car and very loud.  Before we take off a last-minute safety check is conducted.  We are very safety focused. The driver says ‘starting’ and I pop my earplugs in… like I said it’s loud!

6.10 AM

The drive to get to the longwall is around 25 mins today we are going 600 metres under the surface to check the roof support and watch the shearer cut. Overnight we had some problems with the automation within the roof support.  A long wall is a 300-metre wall of coal that we use the shearer to cut along, roof support is a machine we use to hold up the roof as we cut and a shearer has 2 drums that cut along the wall and transfers the cut coal to the conveyor to exit the mine.

9.00 AM

we are heading back up to the surface, the longwall superintendent joins us today.  We need to ensure the vehicle is back for the next shift.  Put my tag back to show that I am safe on the surface and we are not underground.  This is important because if an incident occurs underground, the mine needs to know exactly who is underground so they can make sure they are safe.

9.30 AM

Longwall daily meeting.  We discuss the last 24-hour happenings.  We talk about the incidents, last night a hose broke which means the roof support can’t continue to move along and this halts production.  We discuss how we can counteract lost time in production and also who is away sick that day.  Today we talked about other department incidents that may affect the long wall moving. Every day my role in this meeting is to assist my superintendent with the excel spreadsheet.  The last part of the meeting is all about the next 24-hour plan and predicted performance.  We measure performance on shears cut, a shear means we have cut the length of the longwall.

10.00 AM

It’s time to catch up with my broader automation team in Brisbane- I do this via teams.  This is the Automation Specialist team for all underground mines at Anglo American.  Joining us today is the technical expert from Grosvenor.

11.00 AM

It’s time to get working on coding.  I absolutely love coding. I feel empowered because not everyone knows coding and it’s nice to be a bit of an expert for a change- remember as a graduate there’s still so much to learn.

12.00 PM

I am absolutely starving a few of us chat whilst we eat at our desks.  I brought my lunch in and today I am having sandwiches and fruit. There is usually lots of banter and laughs.

1.00 PM

I need to go catch up with the PCS Engineer and the Technical Services Manager, I want them to check my PLC coding. It’s good to get others’ opinions.  The tech services team there are surveyors, geos, and ventilation experts.  I enjoy learning about departments- it gives me a social outlet and helps me network.  Building relationships is important especially onsite, working onsite has a family community vibe.  We are all in it together. Most people are living in share houses or camps so the bonds develop much faster.

2.00 PM

It’s paperwork time!! Paperwork is my least favourite part, but I make sure I get it done and ensure the approvals are all in place. Although I don’t love it, I see and value the importance of it and how it fits into the overall mine production process. The longest part of this is trying to find everyone to sign!

3.00 PM

Did you realise I hadn’t had a shower from coming up from UG? I am still filthy but didn’t have time to shower.  I’m feeling quite tired so it’s a good time to go clean up.  Coal dust is hard to get off, you need to use soap and scrub!  I once forgot to wash my hair- a huge mistake. Coal dust gets everywhere!

3.30 PM

Back at my desk now and having a snack. I check my action or ‘to-do list’ and prioritize by urgency.  I need to send a spray ring to our other UG mine Aquila.

3.45 PM

Needed to quickly chat with the Operations Manager. My team needed his approval to release a document to the underground workers. There are no corners to be cut on a mine site so a step-by-step process needs to be followed.

4.00 PM

I have a few extra items to complete, I need to complete a flowchart to document how my code works for the rest of my team. It is important to document your work so that anyone can understand it.

5.00 PM

I swipe out and drive home. I leave my laptop at work because I am trying not to work during the evening.

5.10 PM

I am off to the gym- Anglo American pay for my gym membership!

6.30 PM

I go home and get dinner ready.

7.00 PM

My roommate, another graduate, gets to finally catch up and we eat dinner and watch some trashy TV.

8.45 PM

We are exhausted, and I need to get up at 4.45 AM so I drink my sleepy-time tea and its lights out for me!