Occupational Health Management Plan for Mining Industry

Assignment on Occupational Health Management Plan for Mining Industry.

Mining is one of the significant primary industries which contribute huge economy to Australia. With variety of ores and minerals found, mining are carried out throughout the county. Particularly significant areas today include the Goldfields, Peel and Pilbara regions of Western Australia. During 2014-2015, 2,325 people were employed in gold mining at Pilbara region and the number was mostly dominated by male worker with 2,126. Mining is generally carried out by stripping layer bedrock in order to reach buried ore by heavy machinery followed by transfer of ore is into plant for processing.  During the process, various heavy equipment and machinery like Bulldozers, drills, explosives and trucks are used for excavation of land afterwards the deposits is transferred to processing plant. The process requires high degree of experiences from operating machinery to extraction of ore. As seen, there are mostly people belonging from middle class family between age of 30-45 years with experience of 5-7 years in relative work. Unlike other industry, this pays good amount of money however, worker are throughout exposed to risk.

Business risk	Description of risk	Impact	Likelihood	Mitigation strategy	Contingency plan
Noise-induced hearing loss	·   Caused due to noise from material handling equipment   ·   Noise from blasting & drilling.	Medium	Highly Likely	·   Retro sealing  cabins of vehicle or work room with acoustic dampening material ·   Rotating shifts to limit exposure among worker working around high noise hazard places. ·   Ensuring worker about potential hazard ·   Implementing noise management plan ·   Setting up hearing protection zone	Supplying the workers with earplugs, semi-insert plugs, muffs and helmets.
Lung Cancer	·  Exposure due to smoke coming out  from machine   ·  Inhalation of dust from blasting & drilling.	High	Likely	·   Using alternate fuels ·   Ensuring maintenance of equipment ·   Use of low Sulphur fuel. ·   Ensuring adequate ventilations ·   Use of protective equipment	Providing medical consultation
Musculoskeletal disorders	·   Over speed of vehicle in bumpy road   ·  Exposure while driving in  damage suspension	High	Likely	·   Enforcing speed limit with respect to conditions ·   Adjustable vehicle seat and suspension appropriate for loads. ·   Systematic road maintenance programs.	Providing medical consultation among worker
Fatigue	·  Hectic working schedule   ·  Excessive night shifts   ·   Overtime	High	Highly Likely	·   Flexible roster design and work scheduling to allow for regular breaks (or even naps) during night shift rosters. ·   Limit consecutive night shifts.	Providing sufficient break and holiday

Mining minerals has always been a hard task to perform, whether it is beneath the ground or on the surface, Workers are throughout exposed to various risks during the course of mining. The most prevalent risk among mining stands out to be noise hazard. Workers counters various noise in mining whether it is in the form of noise made by drilling, blasting or from mechanical handling. The fact that worker gets continuous exposure to noise, the most relevant consequences stands out to be hearing loss. (McBride, 2004) states that, the conditions of noise induced hearing loss has not improved since last two decade; Hence, hearing protection is of great concern. With proper retro sealing work room with acoustic dampening material, rotating shifts around high noise hazard places, supplying the workers with earplugs followed by well noise management plan will always minimize the noise hazard (Sensogut, 2007).

Similarly, Lung Cancer, A devastating consequence for workers in mining industry over the period. During mining, worker experience to fossil fuel combustion and with the exposure to ambient metals with the likes of chromium, copper, cadmium, zinc and nickel which are corrosive as well as reactive, it penultimate lung cancer (Hendryx, O’Donnell & Horn, 2008). (Neuberger & Hollowell, 1982) analysis also reveals the fact that the workers which are exposed zinc during mining has high lung cancer mortality rate. This exposure may be from inhalation, lack of knowledge for using protective equipment. A periodic health examination for worker with proper atmospheric monitoring is essential during mining work. Considerable amount of improvement has been seen over last decade in field of mining. However, in some places the code is not followed and worker are overexposed to dust. It is well indicated that exposure limit for respirable dust is 0.2 mg/m3. With setting emission limit and ensuring sufficient ventilation this risk can be eliminate.

Further, numerous numbers of workers complaints about the musculoskeletal disorder in mining, especially among dumper operators. Dumper operator often gets exposed to whole body vibration during the course of work. A assessment data among 40 dumper operator and 20 controls by (Mandal & Srivastava, 2010) reveals that, 85% suffered low back pain compared to 20%  of controls. Similarly 37.83% of ankle pain, 30% of shoulder and 37.5% of neck was higher among exposed dumper operator as compared to 5%, 0% and15% of control population respectively. A noticeable degradation in quality of life was observed among those who were subjected to exposure. However, one of the reasons behind this problem seems to be lack of awareness about its harmful effects. With proper driver competency training, adjustable seats and suspension including systematic maintenance program will reduce the exposure among workers.

Although various technologies are applied for protection of worker in mining, they are subjected to fatigue at some point during work.  Fatigue is one of the prevalent causes of accident in mining. It is seen that the workplace where worker are subjected to 12 hour shift and heavy equipment are used are the place where most accident occurs (Edwards, Sirois, Dawson, Aguirre, Davis & Trutschel, 2007). However, with the introduction to numerous Fatigue Management Technologies, casualties are reduced significantly by detecting operator fatigue and interfacing with operator.  (Rosa, 1995) further stresses that with a flexible work schedule for break during night shift and limiting consecutive night shift will play crucial part for ensuring workplace safety and productivity.

The problem of mining as a health issue is one which has continued to exist over many decades. It is of great importance a systematic and well-organized plan for mining to be formulated for ensuring safety and productivity. And these can be achieved through following heading.

• Identifying hazards
• Assess risk
• Control hazard and risk
• Review

 Identifying hazards

One of the most common methods for identifying hazard is through careful inspection of workplace. However, sometimes this seems to be insufficient. A well assessment of risk through survey, questionnaires and interview is carried out, which will provide clear view of risk. Further, analyzing previous data and record of relevant work, the risk can be identified in advance.

 

Assess risk

Risk assessment is one of the crucial parts of management plan. It is necessary to conduct a thorough analysis of work safety. The risk indicators, severity, occurrence and detectability are analyzed in this part of plan. With the help of this, risks are assessed before failure; consequently reducing occupational hazard as well as repair cost and time (Petrović, Tanasijević, Milić, Lilić,  Stojadinović & Svrkota,2014).

Control hazard and risk

This can be achieved through elimination of risk from its source. However, this is not always possible as workers are compelled to work through risk. In such case isolation of worker during risk at workplace and redesign of plan to minimize the risk stand out to be alternative way for controlling hazard. Lastly, the most important method for controlling risk is by providing proper training and awareness program periodically. Through this, workers are self-aware about the possible consequences which ultimately lower casualties. For example, noise hazard is caused by bombing and drilling in mining. In this case elimination of risk factor is not possible, since bombing and drilling is inevitable part of mining. Therefore, in such case, we can provide awareness to the workers and isolate them from the bombing are and also personal protective equipment can be used for further safety. 

Review

After the application of management plan it is important to evaluate the outcome. For this this we can use previous data for analyzing whether the control are working effectively or not. Furthermore, surveys can be carried out with workers to know how much risk is reduced.

The general plan for addressing the risk can be summed up in following heading.

• Commitment and participation
• Consultation and engagement
• Leadership, supervision and behaviour

Commitment and participation

• Through effectively communicating commitment to heath management and consulting with workers.
• Reporting back about implementation of corrective action on health issues to employee.
• Engaging in OHS committee to ensure health issue are addressed.

Consultation and engagement

• Proving feedback about reported concern.
• Ensuring involvement of worker in planning and implementing behavioural change to their work.
• Identify and assessing health hazard and suggesting to appropriate remedies to manage using worker experiences and knowledge.

Leadership, supervision and behavior

• Training worker and contractor to report health issues.
• Collecting report and taking appropriate action to eradicate problem from its root.

Organization Name	Contact	Title	Phone number
ALL	–	–	000
State Emergency Services (SES)	SES Emergency Centre	–	[(+61) 8 9771 2773]
Police	Australian Federal Police	–	131 444
Fire	Old Bunbury Fire Station	–	[(+61) 8 9721 4644]
Ambulance	St John Ambulance	–	[(+61) 8 9334 1233]

Procedures	Brief outline of procedures	Evacuation point/ address	Reference to full procedure document	Supporting documentation
Blast Evacuation	1. Alarm raised and relevant emergency services authorities contacted. 2. Wait for evacuation signal. 3. Follow fire warden instructions. 4. Calmly evacuate the premises from nearest emergency exit. 5. Arrive at evacuation location. 6. Locate and account for all staff.	Corner of Safe Street and Sound Lane, City.	Minerals Industry Safety Handbook	–

Conclusion

Mining is one of the most prominent industries for growth of country’s economy. It is seen that large number of worker are employed in this industry. However, there is lack of proper management plan as workers are throughout exposed to hazard. With regular exposure monitoring to check controls and surveillance program in the form of survey, interviews and questionnaires, the risk can be assessed and subjected to control measures. It is seen that with a proper management plan, worker are protected to exposure while ensuring safety and productivity along maintaining quality of life of worker.

References

Boileau, P. E., Boutin, J., Eger, T., Smets, M., & Vib, R. G. (2006, June). Vibration

     spectral class characterization of load-haul-dump mining vehicles and seat

     performance evaluation. In Proceedings, First American Conference on Human

     Vibration.

Driussi, C., & Jansz, J. (2006). Technological options for waste minimisation in the

     mining industry. Journal of cleaner production, 14(8), 682-688.

Edwards, D. J., Sirois, B., Dawson, T., Aguirre, A., Davis, B., & Trutschel, U. (2007).

     Evaluation of fatigue management technologies using weighted feature matrix

     method. In Proceedings of the Fourth International Driving Symposium on Human

     Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design.

Halvani, G. H., Mohsen, Z. A. R. E., & Mirmohammadi, S. J. (2009). The relation

     between shift work, sleepiness, fatigue and accidents in Iranian Industrial Mining

     Group workers. Industrial Health, 47(2), 134-138.

Haney, R. A., Saseen, G. P., & Waytulonis, R. W. (1997). An overview of diesel

     particulate exposures and control technology in the US mining industry. Applied

     occupational and environmental hygiene, 12(12), 1013-1018.

Hendryx, M., O’Donnell, K., & Horn, K. (2008). Lung cancer mortality is elevated in

     coal-mining areas of Appalachia. Lung Cancer, 62(1), 1-7.

Mandal, B. B., & Srivastava, A. K. (2010). Musculoskeletal disorders in dumperoperators

     exposed to whole body vibration at Indian mines. International Journal of Mining,

     Reclamation and Environment, 24(3), 233-243.

McBride, D. I. (2004). Noise-induced hearing loss and hearing conservation in

      mining. Occupational Medicine, 54(5), 290-296.

Neuberger, J. S., & Hollowell, J. G. (1982). Lung cancer excess in an abandoned lead-

     zinc mining and smelting area. Science of the Total Environment, 25(3), 287-294.

Rosa, R. R. (1995). Extended workshifts and excessive fatigue. Journal of sleep

      research, 4(s2), 51-56.

Sensogut, C. (2007). Occupational noise in mines and its control-A case study. Polish

      Journal of Environmental Studies, 16(6), 939.

Smets, M. P., Eger, T. R., & Grenier, S. G. (2010). Whole-body vibration experienced by

      haulage truck operators in surface mining operations: A comparison of various

      analysis methods utilized in the prediction of health risks. Applied

      Ergonomics, 41(6), 763-770.

Wolfgang, R., & Burgess-Limerick, R. (2014). Whole-body vibration exposure of haul

     truck drivers at a surface coal mine. Applied ergonomics, 45(6), 1700-1704.

Petrović, D. V., Tanasijević, M., Milić, V., Lilić, N., Stojadinović, S., & Svrkota, I.

    (2014). Risk assessment model of mining equipment failure based on fuzzy logic.

     Expert Systems with Applications, 41(18), 8157-8164.

Occupational Health Management Plan for Mining Industry

Australia’s huge economy has the mining industry as a prime contributor which is one of the leading industries in the country. Excessive mining operations are carried across the different states as the availability of different minerals and ores is noteworthy. The primary geographic regions were mining is prominent are Goldfields, Peel and Pilbara regions of Western Australia. Pilbara region is known for gold mining and the number of employees at the mines in the year 2014-15 was 2,325. It is to be noted that the number of male workers at the mines was 2126 which was the majority. The process of mining involves layer bedrock to be stripped for reaching to the layer of ores buried under. The next step is to transfer the ores into the respective plants were they undergo processing. This requires engagement of heavy equipment as well as machineries such as drills, Bulldozers, trucks and explosives. Their function is to excavate the land after which the deposits are to be unearthed. Professionals working in this field are expected to have skills and experiences of operating such machineries. Reports indicate that most of the workers of the mining industry belong to the middle class families and the average age of the individuals is 30-45 years. In addition, they have 5-7 years of work experience in the similar field. Though the payment received by the employees is appropriate, it is not to be forgotten that they are exposed to high amount of risk at the workplace.

The business risks, to which the employees at the mines are exposed to, can be classified as noise-induced hearing loss, lung cancer, musculoskeletal diseases, and fatigue. Noise-induced hearing loss can be caused as a result of noise from drilling and blasting, and noise from material handling equipment. The impact of the risk can be classified as medium while the likelihood of the same is high. The mitigation strategies for the same are to be understood by the employees. The first strategy is to have retro sealing of the cabins of vehicle or work rooms with the help of acoustic dampening material. The second strategy is to have rotational shifts for employees for limiting exposure among workers while the third strategy is to set up hearing protection zones. Educating worker about the potential hazards and implementation of a noise management plan are the other strategies. The contingency plan is based on provision of insert plugs, earplugs and helmets for workers. Lung cancer can be due to inhalation of dust coming from drilling and blasts, and exposure to machine smoke. The impact of the risk can be classified as high while the likelihood of the same is moderate. The strategies for mitigation include use of sulphur fuel; provision of adequate ventilations; use of alternate fuel; regular equipment maintenance; and use of protective equipment. Contingency plan focuses on provision of medical consultation.

Musculoskeletal disorders are due to exposure to damage suspension and over speed of vehicles in uneven road. The impact of the risk can be classified as high while the likelihood of the same is moderate. Mitigation strategies include enforcement of speed limit, adjustment of vehicle seat and suspension as per the load, and robust road management initiatives. Contingency plan would involve provision of medical consultation. Fatigue is common among workers which results from hectic workload, excessive night shifts and overtime. The impact of the risk can be classified as high while the likelihood of the same is also high. The mitigation strategies include flexible roster and provision of regular breaks, and limited night shifts on a row. Contingency plan would focus on provision of medical consultation.

Reports of experiences of mining workers denote that mining is a difficult task irrespective of whether it is carried out on or beneath the surface. It is important to remember that workers have a high level of exposure to different risks while they are working at the mining sites, the most noteworthy being noise hazards. Workers are exposed to different forms of noises such as those coming from mechanical handling, blasting or drilling. The most commonly suffered health condition as a result of continual exposure is hearing loss, as pointed out by McBride (2004). The researcher opines that there has not been any improvement in the prevalence of hearing loss in the last twenty years. Therefore, protection of workers is of prime importance. Noise hazards can be minimized by proper retro sealing work room with acoustic dampening material. Further, having the provision for rotational shifts for workers in areas where there is more exposure to sound is a good initiative (Sensogut, 2007).

Lung cancer is also a key health hazard suffered by mining workers(Hendryx,O’Donnell & Horn, 2008). The primary cause of lung cancer can be attributed to exposure to fossil fuel combustion, and ambient metals such as cadmium, nickel, zinc and chromium. These metals are corrosive and penultimate lung cancer. Critical analyses by Neuberger and Hollowell (1982) point out that worker who have more exposure to zinc have higher chances of dying due to lung cancer. The exposure occurs due to inhalation and inappropriate use of protective equipment. It is recommended that mining industries have the provision for a regular health checkup for the workers. In addition, robust atmospheric monitoring is also required. Though some improvement is noticed in this regard, much more is still to be done. Exposure limit at 0.2 mg/m3 for respirable dust is to be acknowledged and sufficient ventilation system is to be maintained.

Mandal and Srivastava (2010) mentioned that mining workers, more particularly dumper operators often suffer adverse conditions such as musculoskeletal disorders. Their nature of work makes them exposed to whole body vibration. A research with 40 dumper operator and 20 controls found that 85% suffered low back pain when compared to 20% of controls. Further, the percentage of people suffering ankle pain, shoulder pain and neck pain were 37.83%, 30% and 37.5% as compared to 5%, 0% and15% of control population respectively. The decline in the quality of life of the individuals was noticeable. Low level of awareness among the workers was main cause of such poor conditions. It is suggested that the workers consider adjustable suspensions and seats, competency training and systematic maintenance program for avoiding exposure.

Fatigue among mining workers is common even though workplaces consider application of advanced technologies for protecting the best interests of the workers. It is to be brought into focus that fatigue is the chief preventable cause of accidents in the industry. The two factors that make a mining workplace more prone to accidents are 12 hour shift timing for workers and need to use heavy equipment occurs (Edwards, Sirois, Dawson, Aguirre, Davis & Trutschel, 2007). Nevertheless, the application of advanced Fatigue Management Technologies holds the potential to reduce the number of casualties as these detect operator fatigue. Rosa (1995) stated that workers are to be provided a work schedule that has flexibility in relation to day and night shift. Consecutive shifts in night time would act as a vital measure for ensuring safety of the workers, thereby enhancing their productivity.

A rich pool of literature has highlighted the issues involved with the mining industry for a long time. The main concern that has emerged is that there is often a lack of well organized management plan used by the mining industries. It is to be acknowledged that only the provision of a systematic plan when formulated for the mining industry can ensure productivity of the workers and their safety. Such a plan is to have the following components-

• Identification of hazards
• Assessment of risk
• Control of hazard and risk
• Review

Identification of hazards

A critical and accurate inspection is the most essential step for identification of potential hazards. Nevertheless, there is a need of other initiatives for the identification purpose. Risk assessment is also needed with the data collection tools being interviews, questionnaires and surveys. In addition, analysis of already existing record and data of related work is a good step in this regard.

Assessment of risk

As mentioned, the value of risk assessment is not to be undermined as this is linked with a thorough analysis of the respective workplace. The tasks undertaken in this step include understanding of risk indicators, occurrence, and severity. This enables risk assessment before a major accident occurs, thereby leading to reduction of occupational hazards. In addition, reduction in repair costs and time is also achieved (Petrović, Tanasijević, Milić, Lilić,  Stojadinović & Svrkota, 2014).

Control of hazard and risk

Hazard can be effectively controlled if the risks are eliminated from the sources. There lies many challenges in this regard as the workers have the obligation to work through such risks. The alternative strategy would be to isolate the worker at the time of risk at the setting and redesign the plan for minimizing the risks. Further, risks can also be controlled by provision of training in amalgamation with awareness programs. The impact on the workers is that they become self-aware of the consequences of such risks, thereby lowering the casualties. An example is hat drilling and bombing leads to noise hazards. It is to be remembered that risk factors cannot be eliminated from the root level as the activities are integral parts of the mining process. Thus, awareness to workers would act as the tool for isolating them from the major risks scenarios and ensuring their safety.

Review

            The evaluation of outcome is crucial to predict the success of the management plan. This can be done by reviewing whether control methods are efficacious or not. Comprehensive evaluation can be done by conducting surveys with workers to understand the extent to which risk has been minimized. The process for addressing risk can be summarization by implementing actions like commitment and participation, consultation and supervision. The details for each action are as follows:

Commitment and participation: Risk will be addressed by communicating priorities to health managers and collaborating with workers to report back on corrective actions needed to address the health issue faced by employees. Collaboration of OHS committee will also be done to ensure that health issue is addressed.

Consultation:  The consultation process that will be adapted to address risk includes providing feedback on reported issues to key stakeholders and ensuring that worker are engaged in the planning process to promote behavioral change at work. Identification and assessment of hazards will be done to recommend solutions to address health and safety risk related issues.

Supervision: The role of leader is important in this situation to train workers about methods to follow while reporting about health issues. They can engage in collecting reports and taking right action to resolve the problem completely.

The emergency response to the issue will be taken from the following organization:

1. State Emergency Services by contacting SES Emergency Centre (Ph. No.- (+61) 8 9771 2773)
2. Police by contacting Australian Federal Police- ( No.- 131 444)
3. Ambulance by contacting St John Ambulance- (Ph. No.- (+61) 8 9334 1233)
4. Fire by contacting Old Bunbury Fire Station- ( No.- +61) 8 9721 4644)

For the blast evacuation, the following procedure will be followed:

• Raising alarm and contacting emergency service agencies immediately
• Waiting for evacuation signal and responding to the instruction of the warden
• Evacuating the site calmly without any commotion
• Arriving at alternative evacuation location (Corner of Safe Street and Sound Lane, City.)
• Being accountable for the safety of all staffs at the premise.
• The procedure will be guided by Minerals Industry Safety Handbook

            Mining is a dominant industry that contributes the economy of the country. The mining sector has addressed employment needs of large section of population. However, the issues for the mining sector are lack of preparation regarding preventing hazards at the mining centers. To reduce exposure to hazards, implementation of proper hazard assessment and surveillance program is necessary. Interview and questionnaires is also necessary to direct collect information from employees related to the hazard. The report shows that development of effective management plan can promote safety of workers, enhance their quality of life and promote productivity of the mining sector too.

Boileau, P. E., Boutin, J., Eger, T., Smets, M., &Vib, R. G. (2006, June). Vibration

spectral class characterization of load-haul-dump mining vehicles and seat

performance evaluation. In Proceedings, First American Conference on Human

Vibration.

Driussi, C., &Jansz, J. (2006). Technological options for waste minimisation in the

mining industry. Journal of cleaner production, 14(8), 682-688.

Edwards, D. J., Sirois, B., Dawson, T., Aguirre, A., Davis, B., &Trutschel, U. (2007).

Evaluation of fatigue management technologies using weighted feature matrix

method. In Proceedings of the Fourth International Driving Symposium on Human

Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design.

Halvani, G. H., Mohsen, Z. A. R. E., &Mirmohammadi, S. J. (2009). The relation

between shift work, sleepiness, fatigue and accidents in Iranian Industrial Mining

Group workers. Industrial Health, 47(2), 134-138.

Haney, R. A., Saseen, G. P., &Waytulonis, R. W. (1997). An overview of diesel

particulate exposures and control technology in the US mining industry. Applied

occupational and environmental hygiene, 12(12), 1013-1018.

Hendryx, M., O’Donnell, K., & Horn, K. (2008). Lung cancer mortality is elevated in

coal-mining areas of Appalachia. Lung Cancer, 62(1), 1-7.

Mandal, B. B., & Srivastava, A. K. (2010). Musculoskeletal disorders in dumperoperators

exposed to whole body vibration at Indian mines. International Journal of Mining,

Reclamation and Environment, 24(3), 233-243.

McBride, D. I. (2004). Noise-induced hearing loss and hearing conservation in

mining. Occupational Medicine, 54(5), 290-296.

Neuberger, J. S., &Hollowell, J. G. (1982). Lung cancer excess in an abandoned lead-

zinc mining and smelting area. Science of the Total Environment, 25(3), 287-294.

Rosa, R. R. (1995). Extended workshifts and excessive fatigue. Journal of sleep

research, 4(s2), 51-56.

Sensogut, C. (2007). Occupational noise in mines and its control-A case study. Polish

Journal of Environmental Studies, 16(6), 939.

Smets, M. P., Eger, T. R., &Grenier, S. G. (2010). Whole-body vibration experienced by

haulage truck operators in surface mining operations: A comparison of various

analysis methods utilized in the prediction of health risks. Applied

Ergonomics, 41(6), 763-770.

Wolfgang, R., & Burgess-Limerick, R. (2014). Whole-body vibration exposure of haul

truck drivers at a surface coal mine. Applied ergonomics, 45(6), 1700-1704.

Petrović, D. V., Tanasijević, M., Milić, V., Lilić, N., Stojadinović, S., &Svrkota, I.

(2014). Risk assessment model of mining equipment failure based on fuzzy logic.

Expert Systems with Applications, 41(18), 8157-8164.

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