Who are you and what do you do?

Troy Williams, I’m an operator at Moranbah North Mine.

When did you start in the mining industry and what was your first job?

I started in 2002 in secondary support, bolting at Southern Mine in Middlemount.

How different is your job now to what you wanted to be when you were a kid?

When I was young I wanted to be a firefighter. My every day is very different to that, however, as a member of the mines rescue team I do firefighting as part of our training.

What’s a usual day at work entail?

Our role in outbye is to maintain air and water pipes, maintain underground road ways, look after sumps and pumps making sure areas of the mine don’t flood and pumping water out of the pit.

What’s the best thing about your job?

The best part of my job is that no two days are the same. One day I’m grading roads, the next I could be on the bobcat cleaning out cut throughs or cleaning around belt systems.

The worst thing?

The worst part of my job is being waist deep in mud water changing out pumps.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?

Being part of the rescue team we need to do extra training to prepare for competitions. We have to push ourselves physically and mentally to do our best in each event to ultimately come away with the win for our team.

What has been your proudest achievement?

Coming second at the International Mines Rescue competition in America for firefighting.

What’s something about your job that would surprise people to know?

How big it actually is underground.

What’s a funny story about work that you can tell?

A brown snake was found in a backpack in one of the offices. After the snake handler put the snake in the catching bag, I had to drive him and the snake out to an unpopulated area for release.

What do you do in your downtime?

On my days off I spend time with my family and friends. Going camping when we can, or if it’s sporting season we’ll be on the sideline watching our children play.

The mining industry gets more than its fair share of criticism. What is your view of our industry and the impact it has?

The coal we produce is steel making coal which is a very important resource used all over the world. Coal mines are always looking for more environmentally friendly ways of operating.