Patrick Tyrrell – Australian Coal Industry Research Program
ABSTRACT
ACARP assists the Australian coal industry to develop and adopt technology and mining practice that leads the world. The program is entirely funded, owned and managed by the Australian black coal producers.
ACARP was established in January 1992 and has had many great achievements that improves the safety and health of our people throughout its many years. What sets ACARP apart from other areas of research is the industry monitors that have direct input to the research that is been undertaken through a collaborative approach that utilises the experience and technical strength of both the coal mining industry and research institutions in solving technical problems and addressing issues of significance to the industry’s long-term future. Any proposed research project that is strongly supported by a mine site and is of interest to a number of coal operations is encouraged. Safety and environment remain key drivers in the program and will continue to be the focus of much of the underground work and a significant component of the open cut and coal preparation programs.
Priorities have been developed by the five technical committees responsible for proposal development and selection and are separated into the areas of:
• Underground
• Open Cut
• Coal Preparation
• Technical Market Support
• Mine Site Greenhouse Mitigation
While the current priorities are not prescriptive they should act as a guide.
The Current Priorities are: Underground:
• Prevent Harm from Spontaneous Combustion, Ignitions, Mine Fires, Extreme Heat, Explosions, Outbursts, Coal Bursts, Ventilation and Strata Failures – Improved understanding, detection, prediction, protection, selection and design of major hazard management systems.
• Management of Health – including mental health and fatigue.
• Communication to Employees and Contractors of Safety Measures – Improvement such that the information, training and instruction is understood and retained.
• Operator Interfaces and Vehicle Interaction – Improving equipment, automation and remote monitoring and control, also addressing musculoskeletal disorders, improved ergonomics and
• Improved roadway conditions.
• Airborne and Noise Contaminants – Reduce exposure to airborne dust, diesel emissions, and noise.
• Emergency Response Measures – Adequacy and effectiveness.
• Investigation of key practices, including legislative, leading practice alternatives and culture.
Open Cut: The industry is looking for direct or indirect improvements in health and safety across all mining and exploration operations. Areas of interest for open cut mining are:
• Investigation of key health and safety issues and management systems, practices and culture, including legislative leading practice alternatives.
• Management of health including mental health, alcohol and other drugs, return to work and fatigue, e.g. by reduced exposure to noise, vibration, dust and heat, by determining mental health of employees, etc.
• Protection and removal of personnel from hazardous situations such as those around unstable ground, in the vicinity of voids, and around excavations particularly during truck loading.
• General improvement to the health and safety of mining and maintenance operations through novel manual
• Handling aids, including automated technologies or equipment changes.
• Improving equipment operator interfaces, vehicle interaction management, automation and remote control.
• Development of safety in the design of systems and equipment that leads to the reduction of occupational exposure at the source, e.g. noise, dust, blast fumes etc.
• Improve the communication to employees and contractors of safety measures such that the information,
• Training and instruction are provided in a method that allows cognitive retention.
• Development of a cognitive recognition method which addresses the normalising effects that are created due to the human brain predominantly operating in a subconscious mode and failing to recognise changes in their environment that could lead to adverse outcomes.
ACARP facilitates industry and researchers to work together for a common goal that is the improvement of the health and safety of our industry and our people, this is a journey that we all share together.
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Emma Gruschka – Senior Associate
Laura Regan – Consultant, Sparke Helmore Lawyers
ABSTRACT
Labour hire plays a significant role in the mining industry, as businesses seek a flexible workforce that can respond to fluctuating labour demand, address skills shortages and boost productivity. However, as the demand for labour-hire has continued to grow, so too has the number of incidents exposing the exploitation and mistreatment of workers. A 2016 report by the Finance and Administration Committee found alarming evidence of a number of illegal practices, including the undercutting of employment conditions.
In response to these findings, and to ensure worker health and safety, the Queensland Parliament passed the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2017 (Qld) (Act) in September 2017. The Act is set to impose significant obligations on providers, and those who engage providers, of labour hire services. Given the substantial penalties for contraventions, including possible imprisonment, it is crucial that individuals covered by the Act understand their new obligations.
This presentation is a must for those wanting to know the ins and outs of the new mandatory licensing scheme, including:
• the operation of the ‘fit and proper person test’;
• reporting obligations; and
• powers of inspector to enter and search premises.
Attendees will also be provided with the practical steps they should take to ensure compliance.
This Workshop will be coordinated by Jim Munro, Chief Executive Officer, Resources Training Council (RTC)
Nationally recognised, competency-based training was introduced into Australia in the 1990s. The aim of Training Packages and national qualifications was to ensure Australian industries could:
- Identify the minimum skills and knowledge required by workers
- Issue qualifications to workers
- Identify career paths for workers
- Ensure transferability of skills
After 30 years, have we achieved these goals?
The outcomes of recent reviews would suggest a lack of consultation with relevant industry stakeholders has resulted in Training Packages and qualifications that are in fact, not fit for purpose.
Fit for Purpose Outcomes
Through this Workshop, RTC will introduce you to 10235NAT Course in Field-based Training and Assessment and demonstrate how this “fit for purpose” program should be reflected in all training
delivered to our industry internally or externally.
Kristie Davies – Occupational Hygienist, Anglo American
ABSTRACT
A number of different products that are used for ground consolidation works in the mining industry contain polymeric chemicals, predominantly isocyanates, phenols and formaldehydes.
Exposures to these chemicals have potential to cause occupational asthma, skin and eye irritation and some are classified as a Category 2 carcinogen.
Air monitoring can be conducted to determine inhalation risk; however this has its limitations due to available methodologies for sampling including the capacity to capture all isomers of chemicals in those products used.
Health effects from polymeric chemicals can also occur through skin contact. To assist in determining potential worker exposure and total body burden, Grosvenor Mine implemented an extensive urine sampling and analysis program as this will demonstrate exposure from both inhalation and skin contact. Start of tour, Pre and Post urine sampling was implemented.
The team at Grosvenor Mine and the Contracting Company worked together to implement engineering and administrative controls to minimize worker exposure to polymeric chemicals. An enclosed product delivery process was developed, trialed and implemented on site. This project is not yet finalized; however results from urine sampling and analysis have shown a reduction in worker exposures.
Also during this process we have been working closely with the laboratory performing analysis and have provided this project information to the Polymeric Chemicals RS Sub -committee.
Evan Greenaway – Superintendent CHPP, Anglo American Capcoal
Anthony Duck – Operations Manager, Dust-A-Side Australia Pty Ltd
ABSTRACT
No matter the industry, whether it’s mining, rail, shipping or agriculture, dealing with dust is unavoidable.
Massive sites with high yields across any industry will have multiple dust generation points. Controlling dust generated during the transport of materials via conveyors and trucks on haul roads presents a unique set of challenges to mining operations.
In situations where there are multiple dust generation points, it’s rarely enough for a site to just wet all material and expect the dust to be controlled throughout each stage of processing.
In this Anglo open cut site and coal handling and processing plant a two-pronged approach incorporating both Dust Prevention and Dust Suppression is being used to control not only the dust you see, but the microscopic dust that you can’t see – the dust that creates health and environmental concerns, and regulatory issues.
While we continue to test its success, we believe this “smart”, flexible, integrated system, combining technology and well-developed products with attention-to-detail management can ultimately reduce dust exposure to people, equipment and environments.
The expertise exists to implement total dust control solutions in any situation. The key is to find the right type of solution for each specific dust generation point.
Dr Joel Spencer – Chief Executive Officer, The Institute for Drone Technology
ABSTRACT
The mining industry has been one of the great adopters of drone technology. The combination of clear use cases, the legal ability to operate drones around mines, the development of easily deployable systems, and the character of mine locations and the kinds of work undertaken, has seen drone use increase rapidly. Safety, cost efficiency and the ability more accurately capture actionable data (and new data) has underpinned this growth.
However, as in other industries, the deployment of drones in larger numbers has lead to a number of challenges for the safe operation of drone technology. Operating 50 drones safely is very different to operating 5 drones safely. We have been working with clients and partners in a number of industries, including in mining, to develop standardised safe management and training systems around the use of drone technology at scale. This presentation gives an overview of what this work has covered and where it is going in the future.
Prof Ismet Canbulat – Professor and Chair of Rock Mechanics, The University of New South Wales
ABSTRACT
There is an increasing trend to use multimedia visuals as tools in training to enhance learning process, which help to better present the concepts and contents. In 2017 ACARP initiated a project to develop new advanced videos to update the geotechnical awareness and training video (i.e., Black Gold) for open cut coal mines utilising the latest technology in animation and visualisation.
The benefits of these videos are:
• They are powerful as they empower employees and improve productivity and safety
• They are cost-effective; when developed, they can be used by all operations and mines
• They save time in training, providing more learning in less time
• They can be deployed quickly and efficiently
• They offer a consistent experience
• They are flexible (i.e., deploy, stop, rewind, forward etc)
• They give more time to geotechnical engineers to fulfil their other day-to-day duties
Two distinct modulus, one for the operators and supervisors and the other one for the technical service teams, have been developed in the project.
These videos focus on the following aspects:
1. Operational hazard identification and control
2. Mining practices and associated impact on geotechnical aspects
3. Geotechnical processes and systems
4. Role of geotechnical engineers
5. Equipment capabilities
This presentation summarises the development of Geotechnical Hazard Awareness and Training Videos for the open cut coal mining industry.
Philippa Dodshon – PhD Student and Researcher, Sustainable Minerals Institute
ABSTRACT
Serious incidents continue to occur in high risk industries such as mining. Irrespective of work undertaken the majority of incidents seem to be repeats of previous similar incidents. The ICMM reported the main reasons we are continuing to see fatalities, serious injuries, and high potential incidents is due to risks not being properly identified, controls not being put into place, or controls not being effectively implemented or maintained. The ICMM developed a critical control risk management (CCRM) program that focuses on identifying and managing those controls critical to preventing catastrophic and fatal events.
Many companies in the mining industry are currently implementing this process. An important aspect of any risk management program is investigating and learning from events in order to improve the control of hazards. However incorporating or embedding the CCRM approach is not explored or explained in the ICMM guideline documents.
This presentation describes an investigation process that enables practitioners to identify ways organisations can further enhance the effectiveness of their risk controls. It specifically enhances an organisations ability to assess the effectiveness of human (the acts) and organisational (the systems) risk controls after an incident occurs. It will also discuss findings from pilot case studies done with several mining companies and sponsored by the MCA.
Peter Lowe – Regional Sales Manager-Eastern States, GasTech Australia
Mark Gleadhill – Manager, Cool Mine Pty Ltd