Mining has always been a very risky and dangerous business. Over the years, science and technology have made mining easier and improved mine safety, but the risks involved can be controlled only when best practices of a safe work environment are implemented and adhered to.
However, modern mining techniques and the associated technologies have done quite a lot to diminish the considerable risk of catastrophe in a mine. Software for mine planning has helped in creating work environments that have improved mine safety and made it more productive.
We’ve summed up a few strategies that can help you improve mine safety and make it more productive.
Managing the environment
A complete environmental database application has information on all local and national regulations that must be complied with by a mine operator. The application lets users relate these regulations with licensing requirements and enables the creation of user-defined categories.
The managers can establish, assign, and monitor workflows to control processes and possible hazards, and prepare for scheduled audits. These systems have provisions to define emergency management plans, and you can establish personnel notifications and tasks to support immediate responses for environmental incidents.
Managing risk
Risk management software for the mining industry comprise those built around ISO 31000 risk management and its associated risk assessment framework. You can identify current and potential risks, and use this information to assess, track, and mitigate them at all levels in real-time.
Health and safety
Healthy employees are key to a safe and productive mine. You can use a database application to monitor the health status of your employees. This application will record their health histories and update them regularly, along with mine safety training, use of sick leaves, reports of injury management, claims of workers’ compensation, and status of physical rehabilitation. You should ensure your application has a module for tracking results of drug and alcohol usage, and this module should be accessible to only a limited few.
Your company can schedule training events on health and safety procedures, and the data can be entered into the application. You can view the health status of employees in real-time.
Managing equipment
Equipment that is not properly maintained is an immense threat to the safety of workers and mining operations. You can use equipment management applications to establish and create an inventory of equipment that will track maintenance schedules and ensure they are followed, required calibrations and repairs carried out, and any non-conformance immediately attended to.
Managing compliance
One might not think it, but non-compliance can raise issues that can threaten the safety of your mine and drastically reduce productivity. Any compliance complaints and the outcomes of compliance investigations need to be looked into and attended to immediately. Additionally, systems and procedures need to be put in place to avoid recurrence and encourage continuous improvement of the way your mines work.
