The Foundation for Safety

THE ASIA MINER – MAY 2014

Training is the Key
In his paper to the London conference, Andrew Watson of Mines Rescue Service Ltd. in the U.K., said, “the safe operation of a mine is dependent on the competence of the employees. This competence should be tested to ensure the effectiveness of all mining operations.”

“To achieve this,” he went on, “the mine needs to have a methodical system in place to measure the competence of its managers, supervisors and miners.” Key requirements for such a system include:

• Training needs to be analyzed to ensure it covers all elements of the standard;
• Safety-critical procedures need to be prioritized (company specific);
• Training needs to be carried out by competent and credible tutors;
• Assessment needs to be carried out by competent and credible assessors;
• Training and assessment needs a standard to be aimed at;
• Refresher training and assessment need to be carried out for infrequent activities;
• Simulation needs to be as realistic as possible, especially to assess emergency procedures; and
• The recruitment process needs to be robust to ensure new recruits are either competent or can/will become competent.

This is clearly a comprehensive overview, and one that covers a host of requirements. Implementation, on the other hand, may be more challenging unless a comprehensive safety policy is in place, and resources provided to make it effective at all levels.

“During training, the company added, operator errors can be identified and recorded so trainees are able to focus on areas where they need to improve.”

In today’s mining industry, the last point in the list can be one of the most important. As mining companies across the world have come to realize, finding staff who either have, or can be trained to exhibit, industry-specific knowledge and skills is often difficult, especially in areas where labor turnover is high. As an example, Québec-based IRSST cited the situation facing two mining companies in the province, one of which had to replace 72% of its workforce over a five-year period, while the other had recruited 300 new employees. In a limited labor pool, it can indeed stretch corporate resources to assimilate such a high proportion of new staff into a working structure.

Finding competent tutors can also raise issues. Ideally, new employees learn a large part of their day-to-day skills from experienced miners of long standing who know what they are doing. That, of course, can be challenging in its own right, since long-term employees who “know the ropes” also know the short-cuts and can evaluate any potential risks associated with them. In general, recruits, and especially young recruits, cannot. Handing down experience is much more than just instructing someone about the sequence in which levers need to be moved.

In addition, operational issues can obstruct tutoring. Management at a mine that relies on its older employees to maintain production may be loath to release them for short-term teaching duties, even if there will be long-term benefits.

Simulators Offer a Solution
Being able to experience and understand tasks before having to handle them for real has clear advantages for both employer and employee. Not surprisingly, there is now a well-established supply sector that focuses exclusively on training simulators where operators of all types of equipment can learn and fine-tune the skills they will need in the mine. The potential for accidents caused by a lack of experience is minimized, while the mine can do without dedicated training vehicles, for instance, or can reduce the time spent by experienced staff in non-productive work.

The range of training scenarios now available is simply staggering. Whereas a few years ago, draglines and haul trucks seemed to be the limit of simulation capabilities, today’s virtual reality systems can offer everything from training on individual plant items to the experience of a complete operation.

Tracking Progress
As ThoroughTec Simulation, the South African supplier of the CYBERMINE system, pointed out, the benefits of training using simulators include training efficiency, lower maintenance costs for equipment being used by trainees, better safety and improved productivity. Each simulator session can focus on the training needed without wasting travel time, with simulators being able to bridge the gap between classroom learning and hot-seat training faster by combining visual cues, motion, sound and motor memory with an advanced reporting system to fast-track students to the required competency level. During training, the company added, operator errors can be identified and recorded so trainees are able to focus on areas where they need to improve. In addition, emergency procedures such as tire bursts or engine fires can be simulated, helping trainee operators to identify hazards in real life, prevent accidents, cut downtime and increase productivity.

In mid-2013, ThoroughTec launched a jumbo drill-rig simulator that can perform scaling, bolting and mesh-handling functions, based on Atlas Copco’s Boomer 282 and Sandvik’s DD420 twin-boom rigs. The company noted that these two cabs are among its most popular simulator units, and that feedback from users in Australia had indicated the need for a simulator that could replicate these ancillary tasks.

The company admitted that while incorporating scaling, bolting and mesh-handling posed a challenge to its software-development team, several mining companies, including BHP Billiton and Gold Fields, have placed orders for these fifth-generation drill-rig simulators with the added capabilities.

*Extract from The Asia Miner