Nick Foran
Fire Response
Samantha Forster
Resources Safety and Health Queensland
Eliza Gill,
RSHQ
Eliza Gill, Principal Occupational Hygienist, Resources Safety and Health Queensland
Greg Glennon – Operations Manager, Otraco International Pty Ltd
ABSTRACT
Tyres are pressure vessels, potentially containing several hundred tonnes of force, and they are continuously exposed to operational damage. The risk of a fatality during a tyre maintenance activity on an Australian mine site is in the order of ten times higher than that for a non-tyre related vehicle maintenance event.
In 2015/2016, Otraco International performed an extensive review of tyre maintenance related fatalities and life threatening injuries in the mining industry worldwide, their causes and the controls that need to be implemented to eliminate them. The review was used as the foundation for the Otraco Critical Control Program (CCP), an integral part of our Risk Management process and has since been implemented across our Australian and international projects. Our CCP is supported by tyre related bowtie risk reviews which assisted with the identification of critical controls and mapped the level of interface with other operational and safety programs to build resilience.
Otraco has learned that there is no “silver bullet’ for managing critical risks, they require total integration of safety, quality and operational roles, empowering workers to be part of the solution. Through ‘ground up’ solutions development supported, promoted and made visible by all levels of management, our controls that are seen as practical and are applied every day.
Dr. Rolf Gomes
Founder and Cardiologist, Heart of Australia Corporate Health Initiative
Despite the enormous resources committed by the Mining Industry in developing workplace health and safety initiatives, the average health of the mining workforce still lags white collar employees.
Drivers of poor physical and psychological health amongst mining workers are often ‘external’ and lifestylerelated, commonly developing during the ‘crunch years’ (i.e. 25-50 when juggling increasing workplace and family responsibilities). These preventable health issues not only impact the growing burden of chronic illness in Australia but increase health and safety risks and contribute to diminished workplace performance.
Traditional attempts to address this issue have not commonly delivered long-term tangible outcomes for the individual or organisation. A more effective early intervention approach is required, incorporating contemporary biomedical, lifestyle, social and organisational research data. As well as having a rigorous clinical underpinning, new health screening programs need to be packaged into cost-effective and operationally efficient delivery models that enable democratised access across large workforces.
Successful early-intervention health programs across the Mining Industry offer significant mutual benefit to employees, workplaces and local communities alike (particularly via ‘network effects’ that exist within close-knit mining communities). Although currently lagging, the Mining Industry has the potential to become a recognised leader in this critical workplace and societal issue.
Jodi Goodall, Head of Organisational Reliability, Brady Heywood Pty Ltd
