20 years of Mt Arthur Coal Maintenance

It’s an enormous job to keep Mt Arthur Coal’s machinery and equipment operating safely and efficiently with minimal downtime; and one man who’s tried his hand at many of the maintenance roles is Supervisor Maintenance Haul Trucks, Elric, who achieved his 20 years of service this month.

Elric started at Mt Arthur Coal on a small maintenance crew in 2006, shortly after finishing his fitter apprenticeship. Back then, the maintenance team worked on everything from the trucks and dozers right through to the heavy equipment.

A few years later, when a dedicated heavy equipment team was set up, Elric moved across working on both the B and D crews. He also went on to work on the mobile team, the ancillary team and the planned component replacement team.

In early 2022, Elric was promoted into a Maintenance Supervisor role on the ancillary team. Then in early 2023, he transferred to his current role as the Maintenance Supervisor for the Haul Trucks team.

Elric says he has enjoyed the variety of working in different teams across his career.

“It’s been good working on and learning about all the different machinery,” Elric said.

“Whether you’re repairing breakdowns or doing planned change-outs, every area has its own challenges,” he said.  

“Moving from a Technician role into a Supervisor role had its own challenges too, but I’ve always had good support from Superintendents.”

In Elric’s current role, he looks after a team of 15 Maintenance Technicians working on the Liebherr T 282 and Cat truck fleet.

“Even now that I’ve been a Supervisor for nearly 5 years, there’re still challenges every day, but I enjoy the challenges that come with my role,” Elric said.

“I like helping people and seeing them succeed, and my current role gives me the chance to do that,” he said.

“I also enjoy seeing the apprentices come through, finish their trades and go on to become tradespeople.”

“For anyone coming through the industry now, my advice is to just ask the question; even if it sounds silly, just ask the question because there are always people who want to help and will give you the answer,” he said.

Elric said although he had a few ideas, he had no set plans yet for when BHP ceases mining at Mt Arthur Coal in 2030.

“I’m doing some study through the workforce support policy, and I have a Muay Thai and boxing gym that I run outside of work,” Elric said.

“So, I’ve got some options, but at the moment, my biggest priority is making sure everyone gets home safe, so that’s what I’m focused on right now,” he said.

Congratulations on your 20 years of service, Elric!  Thank you for your ongoing expertise and leadership which continue to support smooth operations at Mt Arthur Coal.