Identification of safety hazards in Indian underground coal mines

Extractive resource development necessitates a direct and immediate dependence upon the environment and is particularly sensitive to climate variability and change. This article examines adaptation to climatic changes within the mining industry through a case study of extreme flooding events during 2007–2008 and 2010–2011 in Queensland, Australia. With 47 of the state's 57 coal mines impacted by the 2010–2011 floods, vast infrastructure damage, lost export earnings of more than $2 billion, and consequent impacts on surrounding socioeconomic and ecological landscapes, the case demonstrates the industry's vulnerability to climatic changes and the importance of planned adaptation for its future viability. As mineral resources are embedded within the landscape, adaptation must necessarily be in situ. The article draws lessons from the case to better inform sector-wide strategies for in situ adaptation. The findings are relevant to other industry sectors, such as tourism and forestry, where geographical reloca...

In Situ Adaptation to Climatic Change: Mineral Industry Responses to Extreme Flooding Events in Queensland, Australia

Coal mining (especially underground) is considered one of the most hazardous industries, and as a result considerable focus is applied to eliminating or mitigating hazards through careful mine planning, equipment selection and certification, and development of management systems and procedures. Regulatory agencies have developed in-house methods for reporting, classification and tracking of fatalities and other incidents according to the type of event, often including consideration of different hazard types. Unfortunately, direct comparison of mining safety statistics between countries is confounded by considerable differences in the way that individual countries classify specific fatalities or incidents. This paper presents a comparative analysis of coal mining fatality data in Australia, South Africa, India, China and the United States from 2006 to 2010. Individual classification definitions are compared between the five countries, and methods presented to normalise each country’s hazard definitions and reporting regimes around the RISKGATE framework of seventeen different priority unwanted events (or topics). Fatality data from individual countries is then re-classified according to the different RISKGATE topics, thereby enabling a comparative analysis between all five countries. This paper demonstrates the utility and value of a standard classification approach, and submits the RISKGATE framework as a model for classification that could be applied globally in coal mining. RISKGATE is the largest health and safety project ever funded by the Australian coal industry (http://www.riskgate.org) to build an industry body of knowledge to assist in managing common industry hazards. A comprehensive knowledge base has been captured for risk management of tyres, collisions, fires, isolation, strata underground, ground control open cut, explosions, explosives, manual tasks and slips/trips/falls. This has been extended to outburst, coal burst and bumps, interface displays and controls, tailings dams and inrush.

/pdf/comparative-analysis-of-coal-fatalities-in-australia-south-4jqvxcl4s8.pdf

Comparative analysis of coal fatalities in australia, south africa, india, china and usa, 2006-2010

A model for the implementation of industry-wide knowledge sharing to improve risk management practice

Background: Bow-tie analysis combines aspects of fault-tree analysis and event-tree analysis to identify an initiating event; its causes and consequences; and potential preventive and mitigating control measures or barriers. Aims: The aim of the research is to analyse a fatality which occurred in a Queensland underground coal mine in 2007 to illustrate this technique. Method: The case study concerns a fatality which occurred at an underground coal mine in Queensland in 2007. Results: A continuous mining machine operator was crushed against the mine wall by a shuttle car following a loss of situation awareness by the shuttle car driver. The causes included the use of shuttle cars in close proximity to pedestrians, and driver inexperience. A directional control-response incompatibility contributed to the severity of the final consequence. A range of potential control measures are identified including: (i) replacing shuttle cars with a mobile conveyer; (ii) non-line-of-sight remote control of continuous miners; (iii) proximity detection interlocked with shuttle car controls; (iv) “always-compatible” shuttle car steering design. Conclusions: Proximity detection sensors interlocked with shuttle car control systems is a technically feasible control measure which should be implemented at all underground coal mines. Non-line-of-sight remote control of continuous mining machines or automation of continuous mining machines would remove operators from this hazard entirely. A bow-tie representation provides an effective way of systematically examining the causes, consequences, and potential preventive and mitigating control measures or barriers associated with a previous incident.

Bow-tie analysis of a fatal underground coal mine collision

The major Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) project, RISKGATE has now completed three years of knowledge capture and system development. The body of knowledge for risk management of tyres, collisions, fires, isolation, strata underground, ground control open cut, explosions, explosives underground, explosives open cut, manual tasks and slips/trips/falls was launched in December 2012. Recently, the project added knowledge about outbursts, coal bumps and bursts, human-machine interface, tailings dams, occupational hygiene and inrush to the original 11 topics. In 2014, the project plans (pending ACARP funding approval) to focus on issues around Fitness for Work. RISKGATE provides an environment for knowledge capture and knowledge exchange to drive innovation and cross industry sharing of current practice in the identification, assessment and management of risk. By capturing operational knowledge from industry experts, RISKGATE provides a cumulative corporate memory at a time of high personnel turnover in the coal industry. RISKGATE is the largest single ACARP Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) initiative to date. This paper presents an overview of the first seventeen topics, topic structures, and contrasts and inter-relationships between topics. The second part of the paper discusses some early steps that companies are taking to integrate RISKGATE into their operations; and conclude with some thoughts on where RISKGATE can go in the future.

https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2196&context=coal

RISKGATE and Australian coal operations

IntroductionThe coal mining industry operates in parallel and in partnership with other major industries in the pit-to-port coal chain such as: construction, original equipment manufacturers and engineering services, railways and road transportation, ports and marine shipping. All of these jostle for space and resources while operating under high levels of regulatory and public scrutiny. Despite unique operational differences, these industries function in a similar risk environment. Common characteristics include:• a demand for high performance/efficiency • complex/dynamic operations and technologies• high consequence hazards (with the potential for multiple fatalities).On this basis, it is proposed that a common cross-sectoral risk assessment tool should have the potential to deliver cumulative benefits for industries contributing to the safe handling of coal from pit to port.RISKGATE is a risk management tool being developed by the Australian coal industry. This paper introduces the RISKGATE platform and describes how RISKGATE could be applied to vertical integration of risk management practices in the Hunter Valley Coal Chain. Affiliated industries mentioned above are encouraged to engage with the RISKGATE process to share knowledge and to maximise the outcomes from managing operational risks across the entire coal chain.

Vertical integration of risk management in the Hunter Valley Coal Chain - Application of the coal industry's RISKGATE platform

Fires are a common and recurrent unwanted event in the operation of open pit mines. In most cases, the causes of events such as fires are already ‘known’ but are either overlooked or not fully addressed in planning. Ongoing rapid growth of the global mining industry is creating a scarcity of skilled personnel, and high turnover within operations. This contributes to loss of corporate memory in risk management activities.RISKGATE® is an online risk management system designed to support and assist in the analysis of priority unwanted events in Australian coal mining operations. Funded by the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP), RISKGATE® is a knowledge management program that delivers best-practice controls for unwanted events and assists operations in staying abreast of emergent risks and threats. RISKGATE® content has been primarily developed from an association of industry experts, and enriched with input from additional academic and technological resources. In mining operations, RISKGATE® provides a continuum of knowledge and best practice for risk identification, assessment and management. RISKGATE® will assist companies in improving safety performance, operational efficiency, operating practice and training.Here we present the RISKGATE® prototype as developed in 2011 for Fires, with a case study presented for the initiating event Fires on Mobile Plant.

RISKGATE - a case study in application to fires on mobile plant

RISKGATE is an interactive online risk management system developed by the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC; University of Queensland) to assist the mining industry in implementing continual improvement in management of major unwanted events so maximising health and safety performance. A comprehensive body of knowledge (BOK) has been captured for risk management of tyres, collisions, fires, isolation, strata underground, ground control open cut, explosions, explosives, manual tasks and slips/trips/falls.This paper presents an overview of the BOK captured from diverse mining industry experts for management of unwanted explosives events in surface mining. This knowledge is divided into a series of initiating events within both topics (as listed) with further degrees of classification based on design, operation, and management concerns.• Loss of control of explosives and associated chemicals in storage on site• Loss of control of explosives and associated chemicals during transport• Loss of control of explosives and associated chemicals during manufacture• Loss of control of explosives and associated chemicals during handling and blast operations• Loss of control of explosives and associated chemicals during disposalThe system guides to the user in generating substantive and leading edge controls to assist in the design, management and reporting of drill and blast operations to meet stringent internal and external requirements. From a broader industry perspective, RISKGATE provides an environment for knowledge capture and knowledge exchange to drive innovation and best practice in the identification, assessment and management of risk. By capturing operational knowledge from industry experts, RISKGATE provides a cumulative corporate memory at a time of high personnel turnover in the coal industry.

Sharing industry knowledge to improve management of risks and safety in the use of explosives in surface mining

RISKGATE is an interactive online risk management body of knowledge developed by the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre, University of Queensland, to assist the mining industry in implementing continual improvement in management of major unwanted events thus maximising health, safety and operational performance. This body of knowledge generates substantive and leading edge controls to assist mining industry stakeholders in risk assessments, incident investigation, audits and training. The first 11 RISKGATE topics (Collisions, Tyres, Isolation, Strata Underground, Ground Control Open Cut, Fires, Explosions, Explosives Underground, Explosives Open Cut, Manual Tasks, Slips/Trips/Falls) were launched in December 2012. RISKGATE is the largest single Australian Coal Association Research Program occupational health and safety initiative to date. All major Australian coal mining companies are contributing topic experts to this broad industry initiative with over 400 days of industry expert time logged in action research workshops during 2011-2012 to develop the knowledge base for the first 11 topics. From a broader industry perspective, RISKGATE provides knowledge capture and knowledge exchange that will drive industry-wide innovation and best practice in the identification, assessment and management of risk. By capturing operational knowledge from industry experts, RISKGATE provides a cumulative corporate memory at a time of high personnel turnover in the coal industry. There is no reason that the RISKGATE approach and system could not be adapted to knowledge management requirements of a broad range of other high risk industries.

Riskgate: Industry Sharing Risk Controls Across Australian Coal Operations

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