• HEALTH AND SAFETY
HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING IN A DIGITAL AGE
Adapting mandatory training to the digital age is critical to ensuring ongoing mine safety in the pandemic , writes Jacques Farmer .
Ongoing training is critical to ensure the health and safety of all workers in a mining environment . However , with the Covid-19 pandemic requiring social distancing and reduced in-person interaction , this has become something of a challenge .
While some organisations have extended the validity period of existing qualifications to reduce the burden around training , the reality is that this could put everyone at risk .
Mandatory training must still take place to ensure everyone is up to date and on the same page about safety , but training methods need to be adapted to the current environment . Digital transformation is the key to ensuring ongoing health and safety in mining .
A hazardous space Mining is one of the most hazardous working environments , and as such is governed by many laws that require training around health and safety . This takes many forms , including hygiene , HIV awareness and , more recently , Covid-19 , as well as hazard identification , risk assessment , incident assessment , standard operating procedure , baseline risk assessment , environmental awareness and more .
The upshot of this is a decrease in safety and an increase in risk . To maintain the necessary standards for safety in mining , it is vital to find innovative ways of offering the required training , without faceto-face contact .
Technology to the fore Innovative technology offers the solution to these challenges , while simultaneously improving efficiency and effectiveness . For example , one of the issues with the daily safety briefing is ensuring that everyone receives and understands the message . In addition , things might change during the day , but this cannot necessarily be communicated to all relevant parties easily . Using tools like WhatsApp to send out news bulletins with brief , pertinent messages can help to keep everyone informed at all times .
There is also training around mining-specific equipment and processes , and aspects such as working at heights , working in confined spaces , and working with chemical substances .
All these areas require ongoing training to ensure that all workers maintain the highest levels of awareness and safety .
The Covid problem Training has traditionally been done in person , in training centres specifically for this purpose , as well as on the equipment itself with a supervisor .
With Covid , this ability has been severely limited , as the need for social distancing and limits on the number of people permitted in classrooms makes training challenging .
In addition , the regular daily safety discussions are limited due to social distance requirements . Expired certificates mean that training is no longer current , which is dangerous in such a hazardous space . In-person discussions now need to take place virtually , which limits engagement and discussion .
Without the ability to get groups together for safety discussions , much of the conversation takes place on a one-to-one basis , but this is time consuming and does not ensure that everyone knows everything they need to .
32 • African Mining • November 2021
All Images : © Leon Louw
Ongoing training is critical to ensure the health and safety of all workers in a mining environment . www . africanmining . co . za