Adrian Clarke
SHE Manager, Anglo American
A proactive safety culture is the desired end state for Anglo American’s Dawson Mine. The journey relies upon the initiation of a strong system to promote embedding the desired safety behaviours within the organisation.
At Dawson Mine, this system is “Recognition and Reward Scheme”. The scheme relies on hazard reporting and innovation drives, aligning with the core values of Safety and Innovation. Hazard reporting and associated rectification is critical to improve safety ownership. Prior to implementation, 60% of hazards were reported by the general workforce. This has now increased to 90%, with a total increase in hazard reporting of 20%. The success of the scheme can be attributed to two main factors; firstly, an easy to use system, responsive to feedback, and secondly an immediate reward implication, with those crews achieving high rates of genuine hazard notification receiving recognition.
The second success of the scheme is the increase in innovation from the workforce. Innovations are submitted to the site’s Safety, Health and Environment Committee with nominees and award recipients celebrated quarterly across the site.
The “Recognition and Reward Scheme” develops a culture of intervention and ‘speaking up’, encouraging employees not to be a bystander but be fully involved in behavioural safety.
Dr Fiona Clarkson – Research Scientist, Simtars
ABSTRACT
Mines routinely monitor the gas profiles in their goafs and roadways to determine the current status of the mine as part of their principle hazard management plan for spontaneous combustion. Many mines typically monitor for hydrogen, oxygen, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ethane and ethylene using micro gas chromatographs.
This paper investigates the existence of other gases which may have the potential to be used to monitor the underground environment for early signs of a heating or developing spontaneous combustion event. Simtars collected goaf and roadway gas samples into Tedlar bags to determine the “normal” background levels of these gases.
The gases analysed for included aliphatic hydrocarbons to C10, Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl Benzene and Xylene (BTEX) and aldehyde compounds. In addition to classical analytical techniques such as Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS) and High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), a new micro gas chromatograph configuration previously developed by Simtars was used to conduct the analysis for aliphatic hydrocarbons to C6 and BTEX.
This paper provides a summary of the extended aliphatic hydrocarbon, BTEX and aldehyde gas profiles found in the longwall goafs and roadways of the surveyed Queensland and New South Wales mines.
David Cliff
The University of Queensland
Andrew Clough, Retired Mining Professional
Tom Cobcroft
GM/SSE Capcoal Surface Operations
Dev Gil-Sanchez
Business Improvement Specialist, Anglo American – Capcoal Open Cut
Anthony Manousso
Control Systems Coordinator, Anglo American – Capcoal Open Cut
Bunds are a safety critical control in open pit mining to prevent and mitigate risks associated with heavy vehicle operations. Between 2014-2019 at Capcoal Surface we have had 14 incidents and in Queensland 2012 – 2018, 47 incidents where bunds have stopped uncontrolled vehicles and prevented potentially fatal injuries. At Capcoal we have 100km+ of bunds in the pit, with more than 50 heavy vehicles interacting regularly. Currently the process to monitor & audit the compliance to standard is made via visual inspection with no quantitative process or records.
In a collaboration with SICK sensors we developed a system using laser sensors to scan the bunds and provide a comprehensive measurement including not only height but:
- Roadside facing batter angle.
- Width at the top, if applicable, trapezoidal bunds.
- Distance to high-wall.
Data is transmitted via ethernet to a central data collection system called TDC which then generates a heatmap and a report identifying sections of bund requiring intervention and their criticality.
Some of the benefits of this development, besides measuring all characteristics mentioned before are:
- Is an objective and quantitative process to monitor / audit bunds compliance to standard in real time.
- Cost and time efficient solution as to comply with inspectorate recommendations then survey would be required, incurring in extra cost to audit.
- Visibility across all active bunds and ranking of deficient sections to prioritise as per criticality.
Next is presented an schematic of the sensors installed on a truck and scanning the bunds at both sides.
Chantell Coetzee
Anglo American
Robert Cohen, MD – Clinical Professor, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.
Dr Dave Collins – Synergetics Consulting Engineers
Chair: Greg Dalliston – Industry Safety & Health Representative, CFMEU Mining and Energy Division Queensland Region
This is your opportunity to influence the standard of supervision in our industry. Over the last few years, the industry has had a number of serious and fatal accidents where effective supervision has been raised as a contributing factor.
This session will include a brief introduction to the reasons why the review into the three units of competency (Risk Management, Accident Investigation and Communications) is being undertaken, with Industry, Department and Unions represented.
It will then be open to give attendees a chance to have input into a review of what skills and competencies the industry sees as being required to assist persons appointed as supervisors to ensure that the work under their care is conducted to an acceptable level of risk, their responsibilities and obligations to the workers being supervised and that safety and health related information is passed on to those continuing with that work at the mine.
The session will conclude with a summary of the issues raised which will be fed back into the Project Committee through the IRC, SSO and PWC.
The provision of information, instruction, training and supervision is an essential component of any risk management strategy. A robust training and assessment program is fundamental to the safety of not
only those conducting tasks, but also other workers and people who may be affected by their work.
Can our training and assessment programs be more robust? Have we let complacency slip in? Have we stopped training and assessing in some areas because “it hasn’t happened for a while”?
During this Workshop, coordinated by the Resources Training Council, we will explore these questions and more.