TECHNOLOGY
Nico Pienaar, national director of Aspasa.
but should rather embrace it and find
the right solutions that will work on
individual mines. It is also important
to know that there are alternatives to
expensive technology if mines do proper
traffic management plans and implement
them effectively.
“A surface mine manager must look
at the risks associated with his/her mine
and identify each risk associated with
TMM. This involves looking at the road
and pedestrian networks, keeping them
apart, and managing the points at which
they intersect. There is a tendency in these
reports to not find any risks — but until
you find them, you cannot manage them.”
He gives the example of some companies
that modify Hilux LDVs with a high cage
to protect personnel — but in the
process create a new risk of the LDV
toppling over.
There must also be substantial road
sign warnings and barriers capable of
stopping a fully loaded truck — not small
white stones, as seen on many mines.
Vehicles must maintain the same level
of roadworthiness as on a national road,
as well as managing the space between
vehicles and people. “You also don’t have
to put a PDS in every vehicle — only
those at actual risk according to the risk
assessment. On some diamond mines,
they have cordoned off at-risk areas
for pedestrians and consequently have
exemption for PDS — because there’s no
pedestrians to harm. It’s the same concept
as, you don’t need a hard hat in an office.”
According to Pienaar, in 2016 there
were nine TMM fatalities; in 2017, 12; and
until November 2018 (the latest figures),
there had been 12, “trending for 13”, says
Pienaar, and therefore steadily worsening.
The process is being closely monitored
by government, through the Mining
Regulation Advisory Committee
(MRAC), which is poised to review the
UP testing, and based on this review will
determine the way forward, and dates of
implementation. “A process has started
with the DMR again on progress, which
will include: the new roadmap; an aligned
regional messaging; traffic management
plans; progress on technology
development; availability of reportable
incident data to update the incident
analysis; progress on the pilots in place;
and discussions on dates,” says Pienaar.
There are nine levels to implementing