ENVIRONMENT IN FOCUS
injure people, cause fatalities, or result in
damage to machinery or product. A risk
assessment is the start of what you do to
make sure that you do the right things, at
the right time, at the right place.
NK: Are risk assessments
being done?
BK: Yes, they are being done, but we still
visit places where they are not being done
adequately. There’s still a lot of work that
needs to be done on that. Some people do
not understand the assessments properly;
hence, we have training for that. The
Department of Mineral Resources (DMR)
is not happy with all the completed
assessments and has indicated the
shortcomings. Risk assessments need to
be done, effectively and properly, so that
we can prevent injuries and accidents in
the industry.
NK: How do quarries or opencast
mines compare to underground
mines in terms of incidents on site?
BK: Currently, the mining industry as a
whole is not doing well as far as fatalities
are concerned. The quarry industry is
not contributing to that fatality number
at this time — and hopefully they do not
contribute to that number going forward.
They do have incidents and accidents, but
it’s not high. Yet, any accident/incident is
undesirable. There’s still work to be done,
as one fatality/accident is one fatality/
accident too many.
NK: What would be some of the
problems in addressing these risks?
BK: Trackless mobile machinery (TMM)
is currently trending in the quarry
industry. New legislation is looking at
efforts to separate people from moving
machinery by using instruments/software
for detection, instead of people trying
to see each other. This is currently being
checked, tried, and tested in the industry.
It is not fully implemented but once it is,
it will help a lot in preventing accidents.
It is not law yet, but the DMR is pushing
for it — I think it has to be implemented
in 2020. Some big companies are
spending money on tests, while suppliers
are spending money on testing their
equipment and implementing.
NK: In respect of new courses
that NOSA has developed, why
were these seen as necessary and
what are the occupational safety
challenges they aim to address?
BK: Yes, we have two new courses. With
all the trucks and the like, particularly in
www.quarryonline.co.za
Regular training is pivotal to enhancing on-site safety.
“The law is quite clear: it
says identify your hazards
and then train employees
on control measures for
those hazards.”
the quarry industry, fatigue is a problem.
Employees drive all day — some of the
bigger quarries work an eight-hour shift.
A new code of practice (COP) on fatigue
has recently come out and we offer a
fatigue management course. Also, we
have a course called HSE for mechanised
mines. Mechanised mining is the future;
in fact, it’s a bit old already: it is going
to be automated mining. That is the
direction we are headed and we have to
move with those times. Courses run from
between two and three days.
NK: Are managers open to
allowing workers to go for training,
considering it has an impact on
production?
BK: They are not opposed to training
— they need to do the training, so they
do it. NOSA is doing training through
the Aggregate and Sand Producers
Association of Southern Africa
(ASPASA): they are adding our courses to
their training roster and we will conduct
the training through that roster.
NK: Are there new regulations
aimed at reducing mining
accidents?
BK: Yes, TMM is one and a revised
COP for noise has just been released.
The regulations on explosives have been
revised. Regulations on appointments
and qualifications will be released in
2019. This committee, of which I am a
part, has just finished the revisions on
appointments. We are still busy with the
qualification for certain appointments.
All companies should go beyond
legal requirements; other companies
implement to the word of the law that
others go beyond. Legal requirements are
the minimal implementation.
NK: What are some of the incidents
you have seen on site or have been
reported to you?
BK: There are many hazards: conveyer
belts, machine guarding, working
at heights. Many companies do not
recognise that working at height is a
hazard and do not train for working at
heights. We offer this training. If you
are working above two metres, you are
working at height.
Dust in plants and from roads is a
problem, particularly when there is a
community nearby. Incidents happen
less often on small quarries but more
frequently in opencast mines. Not that
small quarries are perfect, but they do not
have the massive trucks, for example 300-
ton trucks, compared to big companies.
They have smaller trucks, which are easier
to handle. But yes, you can still have
vehicle accidents.
NK: What should the industry
understand about controlling the
occurrence of incidence?
BK: The issue of going above and beyond
the law is one of the major issues. Once
hazards have been identified, identify
the high risks and put control measures
in place to control those hazards — then
things should go well. It’s the control
measures that count.
The law is quite clear: it says identify
your hazards and then train employees on
control measures for those hazards. Train
them so they understand why; if they
do not understand, they are going to get
injured. The principles remain the same,
no matter what.
QUARRY SA | MARCH/APRIL 2019_37