Mine Site Safety – Avoiding Accidents and Incidents

Accidents and incidents are likely to happen at some stage – that’s the nature of an accident. But if you can imagine something going wrong, it’s important to take steps to prevent it from happening. This reduces the risk to the site, to anyone working in or around it, and to the raw materials in the mine. Check off these points to ensure your safety policies are up to scratch.

1. Have the right equipment

When you are carrying out work in or near the mine, it is vitally important that you use the correct equipment for the task. Using something which is not suited for the job might result in personal injury or a larger scale incident. This means that all employees should be aware of the right tools for the job, where they can get them from, and what to do if they aren’t available. Employees should also carry safety equipment such as hard hats, ear and respiratory protection, reflective gear, tough boots, and so on.

2. Use the right vehicles

In a similar sense, you should always ensure that the correct vehicles are being used on site. For heavy lifting, it is very important to use a crane or hiab truck. For remote work, a 4×4 truck or bus is more suited to the task. When choosing a truck or another type of vehicle, think about the terrain, the loads it will need to carry, and whether it needs to be suitable for use on public roads. We offer a massive range of mine site ready vehicles that will keep you out of trouble which you can see here.

3. Light it up

There’s no excuse for allowing work to go on in poor lighting conditions. The correct lighting should be provided for a site so that all employees can see what they are doing at all times. That includes work conducted underground in the mines, as well as work conducted at or near mineshafts which is done during hours when the sun – or the moon – is not bright enough.

4. Stock rescue gear

You don’t want the worst thing to happen, but if it does, you need to be ready for it. That’s why every mine site should stock the right rescue gear for use in an emergency. It should be easy to access, with designated supervisors aware of its location and how to use it correctly. Personnel kit should include snatch straps, a UHF radio to use for calling for help, personal lighting such as helmet torches, and so on. You also want to have the right equipment on-hand which could help in case of a collapse or cave-in to reach those inside the shaft as quickly as possible.

5. Have a clear reporting policy

What is the mine site policy for the discovery of a hazard? Any kind of hazard should be reported, and the message should then be spread extensively. Every person on the site should know about the existence of a hazard, even if they are not expected to go anywhere near the problem – just in case they do. Employees should know that their first immediate action is to secure the hazard as much as possible, then report it to a supervisor and warn anyone in the immediate vicinity. There should also be clear policies in place for dangerous activities, such as the use of explosives.

With well-trained and well-equipped workers at the mine site, you reduce the risk of an accident as much as possible. Make sure that everyone knows their job, has the right equipment and vehicles and knows what to do in case of an incident occurring, to reduce the risk to themselves and others as much as possible.

Call us today to find out more about how we can ensure your safety on site when it comes to truck and buses, by calling us on (08) 9244 4748.

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