2026 Health, Safety, Environment & Community Awards Winners

The NSW Minerals Council is pleased to announce the winners of our 2026 HSEC Awards.

The Awards shine a spotlight on the industry’s commitment to new innovations and initiatives within the NSW mining industry, and are a highlight of the annual NSW Minerals Council Health, Safety, Environment and Community Conference held in the Hunter Valley each year.

NSW Minerals Council CEO, Stephen Galilee said “These Awards are a fantastic way of recognising the important innovations in our industry to enhance safety, manage our environmental responsibilities and invest in the future of the communities we operate in”.

Winners were announced in four categories – ‘Health Excellence’, ‘Safety Excellence’, ‘Environmental Excellence’ and ‘Community Excellence’.

“This year we received many impressive submissions, with all finalists and award winners demonstrating our industry’s commitment to ongoing improvement, and to mine responsibly now and in the future,” Mr Galilee said.

Health Excellence Award

The 2026 Health Excellence Award was presented to Aurelia Metals for their Dustlight Personal Dust Monitoring initiative.

Driven by the limitations of traditional gravimetric dust sampling, the Dustlight initiative introduced a real-time wearable dust monitor to give workers immediate visibility of respirable dust exposure during their shifts and see exposure as it happens. By providing immediate feedback and supporting targeted interventions, the initiative has strengthened on-the-ground risk management and improved health safety. 

Safety Excellence Award

The Safety Excellence Award went to Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group for The Working in Right Places System.

A technology-enabled safety control, the Working in Right Places Systems integrated a QR code verification into existing Permit to Work and isolations processes to provide positive confirmation before work begins. Impressively, since its site-wide implementation in July 2025, the initiative has achieved zero incidents involving incorrect isolations or work on the wrong equipment and demonstrates the effectiveness of embedding a reliable verification step into daily operations.

Environmental Excellence Award  

The Environmental Excellence Award was won by GM3 for their use of thermal drones in their joint Threatened Species Project. 

Traditional wildlife surveying methods are often labour-intensive, conducted at night and often produce less reliable data. In partnership with Symbio Wildlife Park, the University of Wollongong, Conservation Partners and government agencies, GM3 used thermal imaging and aerial verification across 47 sites covering more than 1,175 hectares to detect and estimate populations of endangered koalas and southern greater gliders. 

This work by GM3 has reframed the Illawarra Escarpment as an active conservation landscape and further demonstrates that mining and biodiversity outcomes can successfully coexist with appropriate management. 

Community Excellence Award 

Glencore (Ulan) + Peabody (Wilpinjong) + Yancoal (Moolarben) have won the Community Excellence Award for their Doctors 4 Mudgee Region 

Motivated by the deepening healthcare crisis in the Mid-Western region, Glencore Coal, Peabody and Yancoal funded an ambitious six-year, community-led initiative to attract new General Practitioners (GPs) and to build the pipeline into the future. 

In just nine months, the program has attracted five new GPs to a region facing a GP-to-resident ratio more than double the national average, successfully reopened Gulgong Medical Centre after twelve months without a doctor, and enabled Mudgee Medical Centre to reopen its books to new patients after an eighteen-month closure. 

Contact: Brad Emery | bemery@nswmining.com.au | 0450620254 | 02 9274 1400

A full summary of HSEC Awards finalists and winners can be found here.