Fall prevention equipment not in place at the time of Austar fatality: report

Incident scene with red arrows showing areas where the shaft was exposed when the incident occurred. Inset: Craig Hugo.

A contractor who fell 400 metres to his death at the Austar Coal Mine at Paxton last month was not attached to safety equipment, an initial investigation into the accident has revealed.

Craig Hugo, 59, was part of a crew working to cover up a decommissioned mine shaft when he fell into the shaft at 12.30pm on September 17.