Early Thursday morning, on the 6th August 2009, Mxolisi, Michael, Pieter and I visited the Wessels underground mine as part of the Behaviour Based Solutions (BBS) activities. We were accompanied by the BBS Process Champion of BHP Billiton, Wynand Botes who assumed the role of a site-visit guide for the day.
After exchanging our normal clothes and the Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) we brought along with for the site appropriate ones; reflector-overalls, long socks and gumboots, ear plugs, reflector hard hats among others. We headed for the vertical shaft entrance of Wessels mine, where we signed the visitors and PPE log books.
The most important PPEs critical for working in underground mine areas, other than the ones mentioned earlier were the light is connected to the battery component by a black insulated electrical cable as well as the Siza Moya in a silver enclosed package. All these two PPEs had to be inserted on the waist belt tightly for ease of access during an emergency. The Siza Moya would come handy during shortness of breath; during instances where accidents like ground falling would take place with possible overexposure to dust, smoke or chemicals fumes. While the light and its battery helped in obviously operating in dark underground areas where there is little or no light at all. The black insulated cable that connects the light and the battery had a sound sensor with a red light; which helped in cases when one by mistake walked close to mobile machinery unawares. By this it would go off, making a loud warning sound while simultaneously switching on to warn the person in danger of the on-coming mobile equipment. For a better support of the insulated light connecting black cable; there is a cable holder designed for such purpose on the back of the hard hat.
Eventually we reached the underground operation situated 300 meters below the surface, which took the shaft approximately a minute to come to a stop. We arrived at the underground site and coming out of the shaft we were met by a new world ruled by mechanised electrically powered drill rigs and other underground mobile equipments. Front-end loaders, matched with 25 ton dump trucks, load and hauling off the ore from faces to satellite crushers underground.
The nature of the ore body mined at Wessels is obtained from the underground using a mechanised room and pillar mining method. Arriving at the Murray and Roberts’ site situated at the Central block between the East and West Blocks, we registered on the visitor’s log book. We began to observe their different work activities ranging from fixing wall cable-holders, marking faces with white lines and etcetera. The activity that captured my attention the most was drilling. It was taking place following white lines marked on the hanging wall; guiding the driller to drill holes horizontally into the face.
There is more to talk about underground Wessels site-visit. However, the most important is to talk about the lessons I learned from my observations. Chief of which is the accuracy of my understanding has on SHEQ Management Systems. The understanding was brought about by what I saw underground, that which befits elaborating in further detail. It made me aware why oftentimes SHEQ professionals feed inaccurate information into their safety systems that only help bring workers unpleasant, risky consequences quicker as sad outcome. High possible chance that incidents could take place seemingly becomes pretty much guaranteed as a result. Simply put, when safety systems fall short of being informed by accurate information; the achievement of their purpose becomes desperately impossible. Remember that safety systems are by design a well thought after; calculated efforts that seek to help workers prevent incidents in the general workplace. This also includes the time during which workers conduct their duties in various designated sections of the company like the underground area below surface. Failure by SHEQ professionals to regularly visit all these different areas of the company at given intervals; renders their efforts to positively contribute to the safety of their fellow workers useless.
My underground experience taught me that Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Policies, etc that SHEQ professionals document for managing occupational risks in the workplace to be followed in the company, would be more meaningful if the SHEQ professionals knew first hand:
- what critical conditions the workers face in their different work areas;
- which sections within their work area is of high risk and which is not;
- which among many tasks should comprise of the steps that specifically aims at proactively preventing incidents from happening, due to the risk-inherent nature of those tasks;
- which critical behaviours can be advised to the team as highly important for their safety to help the team to assume responsibility at individual and team level;
- Which safety initiatives should be aligned with one another and how. In order to enable them to work as one single organised safety system. Therefore reducing the frustration workers go through when confronted with the task of complying with each initiative one at a time separately; and,
- And more.
Then, only then, will the services of the SHEQ professionals make a distinct positive impact often demonstrated by their good intended safety efforts. Saving the lives of so many workers who at a greater extent are dependant at the mercy of how accurate the info documented within SOPs, Policies, etc is reasonably practicable to their workplace situations. More so, during conducting work in high-risk profiled workplace conditions and carrying out inherently-dangerous activities like underground mining.
All the queries normally brought up by the workers will be understood from a practical sense by SHEQ professionals; as opposed to a superficial theoretical approach. For lacking the essential practical insight regarding the workplace situations at hand. Most important of all is that many of the problems the workers face would be anticipated with proactive solutions prior being raised at all or incidents could take place.
This by far is my Iine of thought about underground mining, what is yours?
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