The introduction of a simulator to train new truck drivers and assess the skills of longer term employees is proving successful at HWE's Southern Middleback Ranges site.
And, as of last week, a woman who has driven a truck for less than a year held the bragging rights as the only person to be assessed with zero errors.
Cowell woman Kylie Elleway started work for HWE as a dump truck driver 11 months ago, and it was her that the male drivers were trying to emulate as they underwent their individual evaluations.
Ms Elleway said she had tried extremely hard to do well in her test, which she found more realistic in some ways than others.
"It is set in real time but when something happens (in the simulator) it happens a lot quicker," she said.
Training coordinator Darren McNamara said putting drivers through their paces in the Immersive Technology Simulator was both improving safety and saving money.
"We used to average 25 to 30 transmission abuses a week - now we are averaging about seven a week," Mr McNamara said.
"Seven is still too high, but that (lower rate of damage) is contributable to what we are doing here."
When HWE was looking at more than $60,000 per gearbox, it was a big saving.
"We are very lucky to have this machine," he said.
HWE had used another simulator on site prior to gaining the simulator about two and a half months ago.
"We plan to have it on site for the next six months," Mr McNamara said.
He said the simulator could be set to create likely scenarios on a mine for both learner truck drivers and more experienced ones.
"The whole idea of this is we want them to make their mistakes in here," he said.
"This way we will pick up any bad habits.
"Everything they learn in here they can transport out there (on the mine).
"We keep all the same rules on the simulator and they just put it into practice out there."
The driver sits on the same seat as in the dump trucks, with the same steering wheel, levers, gears, dashboard and radio.
The experience of the driver in the simulator was remarkably realistic, with mine scenes appearing to be passed by the driver's truck, the driver's seat bumping over roads and giving the feel of the weight of rock being loaded onto the truck.
When rain fell on the driver's windscreen, the road became slippery and the truck more difficult to control.
A realistic view was given as drivers reversed into position at loading and unloading areas.
""We can educate them on how they need to respond - this is cutting edge," Mr McNamara said.
"We can educate them on how they need to respond to various different situations.
"We can use it to simulate engine failures, loss of steering, loss of brakes."
That included radio protocols for incidents such as rock falls, and the option of learning to deal with issues they would encounter on the mine from the safety of the training room.
"We are fully rating all the personnel through it," he said.
"Should someone not reach the bench mark, we will place them back into training and reinforce what they need to know.
"Ultimately the whole idea is for everyone to understand the safety requirements while working on the simulator, so everyone is operating on the same wavelength."
Once all of the truck drivers have been put through their paces in the simulator, the console area will be altered to put through drivers of other vehicles on site, including bulldozers, loaders and light vehicles.
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