Mining in focus
Inform and educate
An appropriate information, education,
and awareness programme should be put
in place to create awareness and educate
all employees and their families on the
impact of fatigue in the workplace, their role
in managing the risks, and the controls in
the workplace.
The programme should provide information
and education on:
• The factors that cause fatigue.
• The signs and symptoms of fatigue.
• The risks of fatigue in the daily
execution of their duties and the factors
that cause fatigue.
• The action they can take when feeling
the effects of fatigue during their shift.
• The impact of shift work and the
importance of quality sleep and good
nutrition to combat the effects of
shift work.
• How to maintain an environment that
will allow good quality sleep.
Source: Guideline for the compilation of
a mandatory code of practice (COP) for
risk-based fatigue management at
mines (2014).
Part of the COP refers to the fatigue
management plan that mines must
draw up to “maintain and, where
possible, enhance safety, performance
and productivity in operational
settings, and manage the risk of fatigue
in the workplace”.
According to Dr Doug Potter,
a fatigue management specialist
Predictive Safety, the fatigue levels of
mineworkers can be managed through
the implementation of procedures such
as mandatory rest periods. However,
he stresses that when operations
introduce fatigue identification and
management process, the measures
must not be punitive.
“While it is the duty of the employee
to report for duty fit to work, there
are some things that are beyond our
control. Someone might be getting
insufficient sleep — or insufficient
quality of sleep — due to shift work,
or a baby at home, for example,” Potter
explains. “There are so many factors
that affect sleep quality, and we can
give people every tool in existence to
deal with fatigue, and send them to
every fatigue class, but sometimes, life
is going to happen, and we need to
be ready to deal with that. If a person
knows that telling their manager they
are fatigued means that they will be
sent home and have their pay docked,
or that they will be fired, they are not
going to be motivated to do it.”
He adds that undiagnosed medical
conditions are a common cause of
ongoing fatigue. “Often, when we
come in and do fatigue assessments,
we find that there is a medical basis
of some sort: the person has sleep
apnoea, for example, or high blood
pressure, some chronic disease that's
in the background. When you identify
and treat these conditions, this can
have a significant effect on a person’s
fatigue levels.”
In terms of implementing measures
that go beyond fatigue breaks, such as
fatigue (or ‘nap’) stations, there is
a general feeling that employees will
take advantage of such facilities if they
are provided. However, this is not the
case, Potter explains. If anything, it is
the opposite.
“We have actually built a complete
fatigue centre where we can measure a
person’s fatigue levels and score their
alertness using a computer software
system called PRISM. We have every
tool we could possibly need to measure
and monitor fatigue,” he says. “When
we put in nine fatigue stations for the
men and four for the women — there
were between 120 and 180 people
working each shift — everybody said
that the stations would be overrun, and
everyone would abuse them. This just
has not happened. There is still a sort
of ‘alpha male (or female)’ mentality
where people do not want to report
that they are tired, and we really need
to change that.”
Technological solutions
As the mining industry enters the
age of information, companies are
embracing new concepts like the
Internet of things (IoT), or Industry
4.0. This means that technology is
creeping in everywhere, including in
the area of fatigue management, and
management of big data is becoming
routine to environmental health and
safety (EHS) managers, as are duties
related to employee health and safety.
JUNE 2018 MINING MIRROR
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