Long serving ASPASA member, AfriSam recently conducted a traffic management analysis that delivered a number of interesting results and findings that can contribute to improved safety across all surface mining operations.
Speaking at the surface mining industry association’s final Health and Safety meeting of 2022, Vernon Brown, national SHE manager at AfriSam, discussed the company’s experiences and shared findings for the entire industry to observe. The meeting was well attended by industry representatives from different companies and underscored the importance of safety on ASPASA member mines.
During its analysis, the company followed the Mining Industry Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) Traffic Management Leading Practice Adoption Guideline with all requirements for traffic awareness, traffic management risk assessments, traffic management plans and ongoing reviews of these processes with the aim of obtaining level 1-6 compliance and avoid the requirement for collision prevention systems (CPS).
This has led to a full-time MOSH assisting with implementation which is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Thus far the findings have been interesting with some challenges faced during implementation of traffic management compliance. These include the fact that the majority of AfriSam sites use outsourced load and haul contractors who sometimes use ageing equipment. In these instances, OEMs are not keen to have third parties’ interface with their equipment and may void warranties.
Despite these setbacks, work in the company’s Western Cape quarries is continuing at pace with comprehensive details being highlighted on busy parts of each site. The team continues to implement all aspects of the MOSH Traffic Management Leading Practice Adoption Guideline with constant assessment and evaluation of its effectiveness which sometimes leads to changes to routes and access, as well as exit points etc where required. The team also uses the evaluations to add new items to the action list.
An equally important part of the exercise has proven to be control of pedestrian movement on site and ensuring all requirements of compliance are met from controlling routes and movements to keeping headlights on, reflective vests and safe areas for LDV’s among many others. These also come with some challenges such as receiving radio signals in pits, continuous changes in the pit, signage, training and enforcement.
While this is in progress, AfriSam has the support of MOSH and regularly communicates findings and issues with community of practice (COPA) during its quarterly meetings.
