Monthly Regional Newsletter

Transcription

1 This confirms that the Section 54 instruction issued on 17 January 2012 by Mr MO Poultney to Greenside Colliery is hereby lifted subject to the following conditions:- 1. Guards or decking must be provided at the back of the chute up to the tail-end of the C conveyor. 2. The engineer must personally ensure compliance to Regulation 8.9(1)(f), 8.8(3)(i), 8.8(3)(j) and 8.8(3)(k). 3. A program to provide visible means that would indicate that the power to conveyor belts is isolated, must be submitted to the Principal Inspector before 31 January Yours faithfully Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate: 1. TOPICAL ISSUES OF THE MONTH 1.1 OPENCAST BLASTING JANUARY 2012 Monthly Regional Newsletter Lately, this office has become inundated with complaints from parties residing close to opencast mines. MPUMALANGA REGION These complaints are normally as a result of blasting operations at the mines and it is disturbing to note that in a number of cases, blasting activities on the mine were undertaken without consultation with all affected parties. Postal address, Private Bag X7279, Witbank, 1035 Physical address, Enquiries : It is also noted that where blasting operations at the mines are done in a responsible manner and Province all affected House, parties cnr of are Botha consulted Ave and with, Paul Kruger no complaints Street, Witbank are lodged with this Department. LJA Bezuidenhout Tel: Fax: INCREASED METHANE RELEASE RATES loraine.coetzee@dmr.gov.za The change in ambient temperatures is often associated with dropping and widely fluctuating barometric pressures.

2 1. TOPICAL ISSUES OF THE MONTH 1.1 OPENCAST BLASTING Opencast blasting operations remains a topical issue as a number of cases have been reported to this office where blasting takes place and the fly rock from the blast lands on the property of the adjacent mine. Mine managers are reminded that in terms of Section 5 (2) (b) of the Mine Health and Safety act, the hazards associated with blasting remains the responsibility of the manager of the mine where the blast is initiated and it is of vital importance that a system is in place to ensure effective communication between the mines to safe guard any person who might be exposed to hazards due to blasting operations. 1.2 COP COMPLIANCE AUDITS The COP compliance audits are now well under way and the response from industry has been very positive. Recurring irregularities are mentioned later on in this Newsletter. 1.3 MINE MANAGER S AND MINE SURVEY EXAMINATIONS: 2012 The dates for the abovementioned examinations, which will be conducted in the Springbok Village Recreation Club are as follows: Mine Surveyor Examinations: 11 & 12 April 2012 and then again 10 & 11 October Mine Surveyor Examinations: 7 10 May 2012 and then again on October OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY 2.1 Fatal Accidents Three fatal accidents were recorded during the month of January A bulldozer partially fell into a sinkhole which suddenly appeared under the machine on an opencast pillar mining operation. Whilst attempting to remove the dozer, a second sinkhole adjacent to the dozer engulfed three persons. Two persons were rescued, however, the third person was further engulfed. A severe thunder storm and heavy rain halted rescue operations and resulted in further ground failures in the sinkhole which completely covered the now deceased.

3 During belt maintenance operations a belt fitter climbed into the belt drive and took up a position on top of the bottom belt to inspect the nip guard. Although the belt was locked out at the drive pulley, another person released the take up arrangement to slacken the belt in order to replace idlers. The stored energy in the belt drive caused the snub pulley to turn over and the fitter was fatally injured when he was pulled in between the belt and the pulley. A boilermaker and a foreman were standing on a conveyor belt while tightening the bolts on a belt scraper when the belt they were standing on was started up, and the boilermaker was pulled in underneath the transfer chute and he was fatally injured. 2.2 Accidents reported The mines in the region reported twenty eight (28) accidents during January 2012 of which three (3) were fatal accidents and five (5) were non casualty accidents. The accidents per category were as follows: General accidents 11 Transport and mining 5 Fall of ground 1 Machinery 5 Other 1 Non-casualty 5 Total 28

4 2.3. Details of accidents per mining Groups January 2012 Year Rate/1000 Progressive employees Coal Mines Injured Fatals Injured Fatals Injured Fatals Sasol Coal Exxaro BECSA Kangra Coal Anglo Coal Anker Coal Xstrata Coal Shanduka Coal Total Coal SA Umcebo Mining Kuyasa Mining Coal Of Africa Siphethe Coal Sudor Coal Optimum Coal Private Mines Gold & Platinum Harmony Gold Aquarius Plat Great Basin Gold Pan African Resource Private Mines Other Mines Private Mines TOTAL

5 2.4 ACCIDENT COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS YEARS JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Projected FATALS % DISABLED % INJURIES % NON-CASUALTIES % TOTAL % % Improve UNDERGROUND % SURFACE % OPENCAST % TOTAL % FOG % MACHINERY % T&M % GENERAL % OTHER % TOTAL % COAL % GOLD % PLATINUM % OTHER % TOTAL % NOTE: see attached annexure for brief descriptions of accident reports received during January 2012

6 3. AUDITS, INSPECTIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS 3.1 Inspections: January PLANNED ACTUAL Mining inspections 21 7 Occupational Hygiene inspections 12 8 Occupational Medicine inspections Machinery inspections Statutory equipment inspections Audits: January PLANNED ACTUAL COP compliance Group audits 5 5 Occupational Health Audits (Hygiene and Medical) 12 3 Occupational Safety Audits (Mining and Machinery) 29 8 Non conformances found during COP Compliance Audits: Prevention of rockfall accidents COP revision date expired Members of drafting committee not named No participation of H&S reps Inspections done by service departments (Rock Engineering and Geology) not carried out in a planned way No specific time for retention of records No waiting place barriers. Persons being appointed as Mine Overseers without being in possession of the required statutory qualifications. Airborne Pollutants (Occupational Hygiene) Members of drafting committee not signing the COP The name of the Occupational medical practitioner not stated in the COP No mention of the persons responsible for implementation of the COP Improper position of the auxiliary fan used to ventilate headings. Improper installation of scoop brattices.

7 Trackless Mobile Machinery Insufficient information pertaining to the type of machines in the COP No proof of full load testing of machines Insufficient PTO s Machine operators not involved in drawing up COP No proximity detection systems implemented or planned No prestart alarm on conveyor belts and persons are still cleaning conveyor belts which are not locked out. Trackless mobile machine left idling and unattended. No procedure for lifting equipment. Operators are not fully conversant with the requirement of pre use checklists. Occupational Medicine DMR guidance note on lung function testing needs to be used to ensure quality standards. A written procedure needs to be in place that sets out how lung function testing must be conducted. Occupational risk exposure profile must be used to determine what the employee will be exposed to in his/her new job. Principal Inspector to be informed in writing of appointment of locum OMP. 5. MINE OVERSEER CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCY EXAMINATIONS Two Mine Overseer Boards were held during January The following persons obtained the certificate of competency:- I P Lebyang, M B Mthembu and S O Sibiya. 6. REGIONAL OVERVIEW 6.1 Safety achievements Nkomati Joint Venture FFPS - well done. LJA BEZUIDENHOUT PRINCIPAL INSPECTOR MPUMALANGA REGION

8 BRIEF ACCIDENT DESCRIPTION MPUMALANGA REGION RECEIVED DURING JANUARY A worker was fatally injured while reclaiming the compressor house equipment when a drive shaft of a manually operated overhead crane dislodged and struck him on the head. 2 A screen operator lost consciousness when she sustained an electrical shock. 3 While inserting clay into an extruder, a worker sustained a severe cut of the ring finger. 4 A worker s right foot was caught between a jet fan and the side wall. 5 An assistant truck driver sustained a laceration of the left lower leg when he struck his leg against a shutter plate. 6 A worker tripped and fell over an eye layer wall built to manage water at drive and fell. 7 A hose mender from the make-up lateral dislodged and struck him on the left shoulder. 8 While the Fletcher was tramming back from road 1 to 2, it slipped and swung to the side, in the process the cable suspension arm struck him on the chest. 9 Whilst attempting to remove a safety pin after cleaning the screen, the screen bed came down, injuring his left foot. 10 He was barring in a transfer chute at a conveyor belt head with a hook and his hand was pulled into the grids. 11 He went to fill the bull dozer with water and when the radiator cap came off and he was burnt with the hot water. 12 He was barring a rock in a chute, the rock dislodged, he lost his balance and his left middle finger was caught between the rail mat and pinch bar. 13 He was busy aligning the 8 inch water columns and his left hand fingers were caught between the flanges of the two pipes. 14 Whilst positioning the crusher motor cover plate on the feeder breaker, his left hand thumb was pinched between the plate and frame of the feeder breaker. 15 He was busy installing starter bars at the seal, a piece of coal dislodged from the sidewall and struck him on his left hand. 16 He was inserting a spacer block between the sandwich pack and the bucket stabiliser when the jack slipped from the original position and his finger was caught in between. 17 A piece of coal fell and bounced off the ranging arm towards the injured and the piece of coal pinned his left leg in the cable tray. 18 She pinched her left hand ring finger when a rebar slipped whilst putting it in a vice to bend it to make a rake rod. 19 He was climbing off a LHD, when he slipped on the step and fell to the footwall. 20 Whilst busy assisting the bolter operator to plug the rig cable, he lost his grip on the rig box and it fell on his foot.

9 21 He was caught between the utility vehicle and the side wall. 22 While a worker was loading a bag of coal onto the fork of a forklift, the operator suddenly moved forward and the wheel pushed against her foot. 23 Whilst fitting the timber profile on the outside of the shutter for alignment of the winder foundation bolts, he turned to his left which caused the safety harness to tighten and twist and suspend him under his arm on the shutter causing injury to his left shoulder. 24 A sand machine pump pipe was blocked with fine sand, the pump was stopped and a hosepipe was placed inside the pipe to unblock it with water. The sand shot loose and sprayed into his face and both arms causing 1 st and 2 nd degree burns. 25 He was bending over the workbench working with a hacksaw when he felt a pain from his lower back down to his left leg. 26 While lifting a 6mm plate from the 2.5 ton trolley and loading it onto a trestle, he slipped and the plate fell on his upper legs. 27 The shaft of a snub pulley on a conveyor broke causing the belting to rub against the structure, the conveyor belt consequently ripped and with the heat created by friction the conveyor caught fire. Because managers and employers are required to sign the SAMRASS forms, they are requested to ensure that a brief, meaningful and correct description of the accidents are submitted to assist with the correct presentation of information contained in the short descriptions above.