There is no doubt that mining is inherently dangerous. The South African mining industry, with its diverse spectrum of mines above and below ground across a wide variety of ores and minerals, including the deepest mines in the world, is faced with the constant challenge of improving its health and safety record.
Statistics show that fatalities have dropped from 533 in 1995 to 253 in 2004, 220 in 2005 and 199 in 2006. This followed the industry’s commitment at the mining industry health and safety summit in 2003 to a target of 'zero harm' – specifically zero fatalities, injuries and ill health – by 2013, requiring an improvement in safety performance of at least 20% a year.
Out of necessity the mining, and other heavy manufacturing industries, have developed some sophisticated and well established safety practices designed to reduce the probability of accidents and their consequences. It is not surprising, therefore, that companies with the highest risks, such as petrochemical, explosives and mining companies, are those whose safety practices are the most rigorous.
However, despite these proven methods for reducing accidents, disasters still occur. Such accidents can lead to tragic injury or loss of life, irreparable environmental damage and loss of corporate and industry credibility. Companies that are not being seen to operate responsibly are increasingly facing the wrath of government, organised labour and the communities in which they operate.
In South Africa, hazardous operations are governed by a number of acts including the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act of 1993, the Disaster Management Act of 2002 and the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1996. There are also a number of associated regulations including the General Safety Regulations, Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations and Hazardous Biological Agents Regulations.
CEO is responsible
South Africa’s Occupational Health and Safety legislation has always been clear that the ultimate responsibility for safe operations rests with the CEO. Even if another person is designated under section 16.2 of the OHS Act, ultimate liability rests with the CEO.
The CEO can certainly make a considerable difference, significantly enforcing a culture of safe and responsible operations in the organisation. However, despite the best efforts of any CEO, accidents can and do happen. Ultimately, the CEO is dependent on a good team and good systems to avoid accidents and environmental incidents.
In many mining operations, ongoing efforts to reduce costs mean that employees and contractors are under increasing pressure to perform the same tasks with fewer resources. There is a point, however, where the increased operating risk associated with stretched resources becomes untenable and the probability of accidents or disasters is increased.
The potential role of IT
The critical question that should be asked is whether IT can play a role in assuring the CEO and business management that ‘everything reasonably practical’ is being done to ensure safe and sustainable operations.
Many of the best practices designed to ensure safe and responsible operations follow straightforward and universal principles and management practices across industries and companies. Innovative use of technology can automate these processes in such a manner that does not cause abdication of responsibility from people to a software system. Properly designed IT systems can reduce the possibility of human error by ensuring that risks and hazards are identified and analysed ahead of work undertaken.
A good example of such a tool is a computer-assisted, intelligent permit-to-work designed to govern maintenance activities. An intelligent permit ensures employees and contractors are made aware of hazards and prior learning points and that all necessary isolations are in place and protective equipment is used for the work to be performed.
This combination of best safety practices and innovative IT inherent in an intelligent permit-to-work has been successfully applied in a number of South African organisations, particularly in the mining and process manufacturing industry to improve safety. It makes sense to take the best safety practices from those who have the track record, and use IT to replicate and deploy these practices in industries that are less prepared.
Technology can play a vital role here: just as many best financial and business processes were standardised through a combination of statutory and best practices embedded in ERP technology, there is no doubt that well applied IT can assist business management achieve safe and responsible plant operations. This would benefit not only industry but also workers and the country as a whole.
For more information contact Gavin Halse, ApplyIT, +27 (0)31 275 8080, halseg@applyit.co.za, www.applyit.com
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