James Hall
Partner, Ashurst
Brett Elgar
Counsel, Ashurst
In November 2018, the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 was amended to introduce a number of significant reforms.
A number of the changes were aimed at improving the focus on contractor management and safety. We discuss these important changes and their practical implications for the industry.
Clive Hanrahan
Operations Manager – Mine Inertisation, Queensland Mines Rescue Service
Due to the mining environments in some underground operations, particularly longwalls, where the void space in the goaf becomes wider and longer, the potential for spontaneous combustion and fire events is possible and, in some cases, has happened.
The nitrogen foam table is relatively quick to deploy, set up and become operational delivering the gas mixture to the required area. The water in-foam cools the heating whilst the nitrogen gas displaces the oxygen.
Using the nitrogen foam table supplies a medium of water foam and nitrogen gas. The water in-foam cools the heating – one leg of the fire triangle whilst the nitrogen gas displaces the oxygen – second leg of the fire triangle.
The nitrogen foam table allows for the distribution of the gas/foam mixture to either one borehole or by opening secondary valving, an additional borehole can be treated at the same time. Where a spontaneous combustion/fire event has been identified mid pillar, the utilisation of the table to treat two boreholes at the same time will greatly assist in the reduction or elimination of that event.
When drilling boreholes from the surface into underground voids the nitrogen foam table allows the gas/foam mixture to be utilised to create an inert shield whereby the foam acts as a wetting agent to prevent any incendive sparking during the drilling process & the gas displaces any potential oxygen present.
In mining areas: Such as the maingates of longwalls where there is oxygen contained within the airwash zone the gas foam mixture could be utilised to create a “plug” behind the maingate face end shields which would reduce / eliminate any airwash issues. The table can be readily located adjacent to a seal site either prior to or after the seal installation. The gas/foam mixture can be distributed from the nitrogen foam table via piping through the erected seal or hosing through the proposed seal site.
Bo Hanson,Director,
Nathan Sharpe, Director,
Laura Geitz and Grant Polwarth, Director, Talisman People Pty Ltd
Prof Alex Haslam, Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology, University of Queensland
Prof Maureen Hassall
MISCH SMI The University of Queensland
Ian Hawkins
Seam Gas Manager, Anglo American – Moranbah North Mine
Minimising risk to our people is Anglo American’s number one priority. Anglo American has implemented a system to improve the control of works being conducted on the surface to support the underground operations.
Recognising that unplanned work can often be the most unsafe, Moranbah North operation has taken advantage of the existing, proven underground planning tool and processes (Fewzion) and aligned the surface operations to these processes.
The surface area of the mining lease has been split into geographical zones with a zone controller responsible for each zone.
All activities in each zone are planned within a shared database (Fewzion) and managed and scheduled through planning meetings and agreed processes.
Any break-in or unplanned work is assessed independently by the activity owner and zone controller prior to approval to proceed is granted.
Zoning of surface works provides confidence that:
- All surface work activities are planned and scheduled, minimising the need for break-in and unplanned work
- Permits to Work are in place, with associated risk assessment and hazard identification completed
- Simultaneous works are identified – minimising conflicting work areas
- All work is communicated to all surface workers – maximising awareness
- Break-in work is effectively managed, as it is planned through the scheduling process.
Bill Haylock
Director, Green Ticket
All mine sites have two things in common—workers and risks. Their workforce, the company’s biggest asset, need to be trained efficiently and effectively on hazards’, risks’ and incidents’ management. Mine site workers handle highstakes machinery and dangerous substances in high-risk settings. The success of risk procedures for a company depends on how well workers understand, accept, and implement these procedures. Without appropriate knowledge and specific tools workers are at high risk of impacting their safety and health, while also undoing corporate compliance measures implemented by management. To mitigate this, we need cost-effective and time-efficient tools. We need targeted, pertinent, specialised training.
This raises questions about what tools contractors need to do the job and how these tools can effectively and efficiently be created and delivered.
Questions to address:
- What is the decision-making process undertaken to create a targeted, pertinent, specialised training program?
- What is the problem?
- Who is at risk?
- What are the regulations?
- Who is the target?
- What are the methods of delivery and desirable frequency?
- What locations?
- What are the workers’ levels of literacy?
- And most importantly, what decision-making processes help to answer these questions and get cut-through to the workers?
Steve Hedges – SVP Operations
David Champion – Safety Manager, Millennium Mine, Peabody
ABSTRACT
In early 2016, with Millennium Mine nearing the end of its planned mine life, the site took on a new challenge – to use auger mining to maximise resource recovery by endeavouring to win coal from two final highwall positions. The team set about engaging a specialist auger mining contractor who had worked in Queensland for a number of years. The contractor had a system of work in place based on experience gained in both the United States (US) and Australia.
However, the previous research relating to the effectiveness of the controls was conducted in the US in the early 1990’s. The absence of a real time gas monitoring system on the auger led the Queensland Coal Mines Inspectorate to issue a (S169) directive to suspend augur operations at Millennium pending resolution of a range of concerns relating to the risk assessment, standard operating procedure (SOP) and work instructions.
The directive was extremely broad and difficult to achieve.
Over the next six weeks the Mine set about developing a detailed revision of the risk assessment and SOP. However, with no baseline data, the project lacked the defined processes to verify and confirm the existing controls. The Operation was therefore unable to restart.
In May 2016 the Mine sought a review of the directive by the Chief Inspector. Ultimately this led to a revised directive (S166).
The use of this revised regulatory approach allowed for:
• Verification of the risk assessment controls;
• Development of a series of new systems of work to be tested;
• New controls to be proven through a framework of research and development of the mining system.
A series of test and verification programmes was developed using risk assessment techniques that involved technical experts from various specialist fields.
This then allowed the project to develop in stages and to progressively deliver an ‘acceptable’ level of risk based on proven methods of control.
At each stage a plan was developed, submitted and reviewed with the regulator with a subsequent update of the section 166 directive. The results were then further reviewed with the regulator as part of defining the next steps. Success was achieved by the regulator, Mine operator and the contractor working closely to develop a series of best practice controls using the latest available technology, underpinned by fundamental risk management practises.
In March 2018 the final directive was closed.