Bernie Henricksen was working underground when a coal miner’s worst fear occurred, his crew mate was killed in a tragic accident. It left Bernie distraught and adrift, until one day by happenstance he found a new purpose.

Bernie started working underground in 2005, first as a contractor across a variety of mines before he got a permanent role in 2008 as a production operator.

In November 2019, tragedy struck and Bernie’s friend and longtime work colleague was crushed by a large piece of fallen coal. Bernie, who was a member of the QMRS, joined in the rescue to save his mate.

“I had trained extensively for such an incident and my training kicked in to the point that I was one of the leading team members of what we hoped was a rescue, but ended up being an extraction,” said Bernie.

“Even all these years later I am still impressed with how the crew pulled together and worked solidly as a team to do the job. There were many difficult curveballs to contend with.”

While he had many years of QMRS training and plenty of competition experience under his belt which had prepared Bernie to deal with the incident, there was no training that could prepare him to handle the aftermath.

“The support I got from the boys and work helped, and especially the support from my partner Tania who has been by my side helping me every step of the way, but ultimately I ended up pulling out of the QMRS after about nine and a half years. It was a bit of an extra kick because I wanted that 10-year badge and I would have been very proud to achieve it.

“I also needed to pull out of studying for my ERZ controllers’ ticket because of the difficulties I had afterwards. This made me feel like my whole career had come to a stop.

“After some time of floundering around and feeling even worse because I was not contributing to the industry that had provided for me and my family for fifteen years, I came across something that really got my attention.

“I’d been looking into wheeled stretchers, trying to find one that would be more suitable for use down on a longwall when I came across the Protos helmet. I was impressed when I saw the helmet with all its accessories, but what really got my attention was the impact test demonstration video I watched.

“I thought to myself, ‘why can’t we have something like that underground?’ It was right at that moment that it occurred to me that maybe we could and maybe this is how I could contribute to the industry again.

“I began researching into Protos and I learnt that they had an exceptional reputation globally for safety, comfort, reliability and quality. It was obvious Protos has a huge amount of pride in their products with a large safety helmet range for many applications and a sister company “Pfanner” with high quality protective clothing and boots. The technologies they were using were so advanced and most I had never even heard of.

“Next step was to contact Protos to see if they would make some underground helmets. This was done through Protos N.Z the Australasian distributor who supported my claim and took my idea further up the tree to the Protos factory who are based in Austria.

“The factory set about engineering some Protos underground helmets for trial and I am proud to say we are now on the mark 3 version. We’ve made adaptations and added accessories to ensure optimal performance underground and I am very happy with what we have achieved.”

Bernie has helped introduce two new Protos helmets, Protos Industry Underground EN397 for general underground and rescue tasks, and Protos Climber Underground EN12492 for specific tasks working at heights.

“These are adaptations to a helmet that have been proven all over the world in arborist, forestry, construction and rescue. WorkSafe N.Z endorse these helmets and a variety of industries have already adopted the use of them in Australia. Now we can have them in underground mining too.”

Protos Safety Helmets are unique as they are more impact resistant than a traditional hard hat, have a 5-year lifespan, and because they encompass the head and fasten securely to the back of the neck it ensures they stay on your head when it’s critical.

“They can attach hearing protection and safety glasses in a range of colours that are parked or contained within the outer shell and are fingertips away from being active. Other accessories include visors, torches, locker storage brackets, fire retardant neck capes, Bluetooth, custom stickers and optical inserts for safety glasses. With all these accessories available individually, you get to mix and match for specific tasks and with a clip-on clip-off system you can utilise only the accessories required for each situation.”

Bernie along with his brother Will Henricksen who is also an underground coal miner, established their company Hour Safety Solutions with the goal of helping to look after the safety and comfort of fellow miners.

“I never imagined I would start a business, but it was an evolution of the product. I didn’t care whether the venture succeeded or failed, what mattered was I was contributing by trying to help my fellow comrades.”

When the prototype helmets were created, Bernie trialled them undergound, but he also sent some to QMRS. When the Grosvenor mines rescue team saw the helmets at the QMRS station the team purchased their own from Bernie to wear at the International Mines Rescue Competition which was held in Columbia in September.

It was a full circle moment for Bernie.

“It fantastic to have the team wearing these helmets in Columbia on the global stage and help bring some recognition to their lifesaving capabilities. I am so grateful I was a member of the QMRS when the accident occurred. I recommend all young miners should participate if given the opportunity as it prepares you for bad situations before they even arise. By doing all that training and all that extra work around it, it takes hard decisions out of the situation as your training has already made those decisions for you. It makes it a lot easier for not just yourself, but everyone around you.”

Moving forward Bernie’s goal is to see the Protos underground helmets available to everyone who wants one working in underground mines in Australia. He’s also working on introducing other equipment specific to the needs of miners to increase safety and comfort.

In November this year, a memorial ride will be held which will see a group of riding motorbikes from Mackay to Ipswich. Others will fly down to join the riders at the end of the four days to remember their fallen mate.

“We can’t go back and change what has happened, but what we can do is make sure that nothing like this happens again.”