AUTHOR: PARTHA DAS SHARMA
(B.Tech – Hons.) in Mining Engineering
E.mail: sharmapd1@gmail.com,
Blog/website:
http://miningandblasting.wordpress.com/
Workplace Safety Tops Mining Priority List

l Workplace safety has come out

as one of the top priorities for
senior level executives in
Mining.
l Safety executives were focused
on improving performance and
operational effectiveness.
l Most mining companies agreed
the best way to do this would be
to comply with government
regulations.
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 Safety Management Development System

l A safety management system is a set of rules,

guidelines and proper procedure developed and
put in place to ensure that everyone in the
workplace are working in a safe and secure
environment.
l Conscientious businesses will have a proper
safety management system in place in order to
ensure that precautions are being taken to avoid
incidents leading to equipment damage, down
time, production delay, serious injury, fatality,
investigation and irreparable damage to their
reputation.
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 Safety Management Development System

A competent business will only suffer accusations for high

efficiency, minimal down times, rare production delay, a
safe work environment, no serious injuries or fatalities
and no investigations.
Elements
lSafety Policy
lHazard Assessment Recognition and
Control
lGeneral Responsibilities and Policies
lGeneral Rules
lPreventative Maintenance Program

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 Why is workplace safety so important?

l Workers (employees), they are

any businesses most valuable
asset.
l If one or more employees are
hurt or injured in the workplace
and not able to work, the
remainder of the workforce will
have to pull together to “pick up
the slack” for those that have
become sick or injured on the
job.

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Why is workplace safety so important?

l Injured workers also affect the employer.

l The employer could incur the cost for
temporary workers or overtime pay.
l Management, too, plays an important role.
l They must show the frontline employees how
important worker safety is to everyone.
l Safety contributes to the bottom line and over
all profit sharing in a company.

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How to maintain safety in the workplace?

l Team work. Management and front line

employees working together.
l Government Acts & Regulations on
safety require the employer to analyze
the work areas and the employer must
keep this annual record in writing.
l “Job hazard analysis” as a technique
that focuses on job tasks to identify
hazards before they occur.
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 Job Analysis Technique

l The job analysis should have at least 3

steps:
q Activity
q Equipment
q Materials to be used
l With the job analysis, a safety-operating
guide should be given to the employees
to show workplace safety facts.

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 Safety at work

l Safety at work makes sense when

supervisors get involved with the
workers under them.
l They prevent injuries and minimize the
seriousness of injuries when an
accident does occur by teaching safety
at work in their divisional group
meetings.
l Supervisors should be taught to be
“active listeners”.
l Communication between supervisors
and workers is an important aspect of
the safety at work awareness for your
business.

PARTHA DAS SHARMA 9

 Safety at work cont’d..

l Maintaining safety at work requires attention to

chemical hazards, equipment and work station
design, physical environment including
temperature, humidity, light, noise, ventilation,
space, task design, psychological factors and
sometimes, other environment exposures such
as summer temperatures and winter cold
spells.

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 Evaluating Worker Safety

Here are seven areas to consider when evaluating worker safety:

l Do they follow the rules and stick to accepted safety at work
practices that are written by your department?
l Do they always use the provided safety equipment?
l Do they report unsafe acts, conditions and equipment that is not
operating correctly?
l Do your employees offer suggestions to solve safety problems or
concerns? Can their suggestions be turned in to your safety
committee to help other departments?
l Are employees planning their work to include safety checks before
they start?
l Do they support the overall safety at work programs?
l Do they report any illness or injury that arises from the job
immediately to the Human Resource Department, Safety Office or
Security if applicable as per the safety at work rules?

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 Safety Equipments

l Safety Equipment is a critical component of

any workplace.
l No matter what you do, there is almost
certainly going to be some kind of dangers
inherent in the job.
l From housekeeping to construction, every job
brings with it new dangers.
l The kind of safety equipment you will need for
your workplace will vary based on the job
description.

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 Kind of Safety Equipment needed

l Hard Hats
l Safety Glasses, Safety Goggles
l Clothing
l Work Gloves: Mechanics Gloves, Leather Gloves, Disposable
Gloves, Chemical Resistant
l Gas Detectors
l Eyewash Stations
l Ear Protection: Ear Plugs, Ear Muffs
l Dust Masks and Respirators
l OSHA Safety Signs
l Safety Signs: Restricted Area
l Safety Footwear, Safety Boots and Shoes
l Flashlights
l First Aid Kits
l Welding Equipment
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 Time management in the workplace

l Time management in the

workplace is a crucial skill that all
employees and managers must
possess in order to have a thriving
business.
l When hiring new employees it is
important you test their time
management skills.
l Give them a few exercises to do
and give them an appropriate time
limit to get them completely.
l This shall give you some ideas on
what kind of time management
skills your new employees have.

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Time management in the workplace cont’d..

l It is important that each and every one of your

employees know exactly what is expected of them.
l Make up list for each employee stating what is
expected of them each day.
l Give a time limit to projects, but remember to be
realistic.
l Sometimes things get hectic and all the work on the list
might not be able to be completed.
l Keep an eye on your employees and make sure that
they are busy and not just goofing around.
l One of the best ways to stop time from being wasted is
to clarify the first time exactly what needs to be done.
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Time management in the workplace cont’d..

l Another very important step in time

management in the workplace is teaching
your employees how to prioritize.
l When you make the list of things to do for each
employ, put them in order of what needs to be
done first and make sure the employees
understand this concept.
l Make sure it is clear what is really important.

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 Time is money !!

l Time management in the workplace is essential to

any and every business.
l When time is wasted so is money.
l Make sure your employees know what is expected of
them.
l Prioritization is another big part of time management.
l It is also necessary as the employer you know your
business inside and out.
l Training of everyone can never be stressed enough and
make sure things are always done right away and never
put off.
l If you follow these simple rules to time management in
the workplace, you will start to see a lot more things
being completed.
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 Avoidance of Incompetence

l Incompetence in the
workplace always exists.
l There are always people for
whatever reason that just
can’t seem to do their job
correctly.
l Incompetence is not a mistake
that a person makes every
once in a while.
l Incompetence is the same
mistake constantly being
made over and over again,
even after the person has
been shown how to fix it.
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Avoidance of Incompetence cont’d..

l One of the most important issues when

dealing with workplace-incompetence is
remembering to keep your cool.
l Nothing gets done when a person takes to
yelling and swearing, especially if it’s in
front of fellow employees or customers.
l This will make the employee just feel
humiliated and grudging.
l This tactic does not solve problems.

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Avoidance of Incompetence – Tactful act

l A good manger is one who always takes the time

to listen to their employees.
l Let the employee explain their view on things and
be patient.
l Let them know the things that you think they do
well before pointing out their flaws.
l It is important to make the employee feel
valuable, before performing constructive criticism.
l Have a brain storming secession with them on
ways for them to improve their job performance.
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 Avoidance of Incompetence – Tactful act

l As the employee’s performance

begins to improve point it out to
them and to the other employees.
l Make sure they know that you are
watching and that it is important that
their job performance improves.
l Be ungrudging don’t let their past
workplace incompetence effect
how you feel later specially if their
work has improve.
l If you feel that you have tried
everything and it has done no good,
it might be time to seek other
options.
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 Avoidance of Incompetence – Tactful
hiring of new employees

l When it comes to hiring new employees here are some tips

to help keep laziness and incompetence out of the
workplace.
l Whatever position that you are hiring for make sure the
new employee is capable of doing the job right.
l Now this might be easier said than done when it comes to
hiring, but do the best you can.
l Your safest bet is to always check references.
l Come up with a checklist of questions and make sure they
answer all of them in full.
l If you are unsure perform more interviews.
l Make sure you hire someone that you believe is competent.

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 Communication in the Workplace

l Communicating, with fellow

employees is certainly a high
priority as well as a mandatory
first step toward safety.
l Though this may sound like a
bad cliché, communication in
the workplace is key.
l Conflicts or miscommunication
often leads not only vital
mistakes being made with your
business but also server to shift
attention away from safety and
toward office grudges.

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 Communication in the Workplace cont’d..

l Managers must communicate with employees under

their supervision and delegate responsibility in a calm
and efficient manor.
l When explaining safety protocols to other members of
‘the team’ it is important to remember just that fact, this
is a team.
l Should there be conflict on the workplace, there will be
much harder to maintain a smoothly functioning ’safety
wheel’.
l As always, remember that developing company
motto’s and slogans often serve to bolster spirits in the
office and encourage communication in the workplace.
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 Promoting workplace safety

l Promoting workplace safety can be a difficult

strategy to adopt if you do not already have an
outline for promoting safety in the workplace.
l More time consuming than managing your
employees can be convincing them to adapt to
new ideas and train them to go about their
whole work day with a fresh outlook.
l Constant reminders can in the beginning make
for the best approach to safety promotion in
your workplace.

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 Promoting workplace safety cont’d..

l Scheduled safety meetings make

for an excellent way to keep
everyone up to speed on what
regulations they need to be
aware of and what is changing or
going unnoticed in the workplace.
l Promoting workplace safety must
start at the top and work its way
down!
l Safety is a team effort and as
such requires the coordination
and commitment of you and your
staff.
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 Steps to Promoting Workplace Safety

l Get your employees attention!

l Schedule Safety Meetings
l Make sure you have a safety manager
l Workplace safety policies start at the top
l Use reminders for your existing employees
l Incorporate safety training into new hire training
programs
l In addition to these and other methods of increasing the
awareness of best safety practices in the workplace you
should not overlook “morale boosting tactics”.
l Place signs around the workplace in places visible to
your employees and somewhere where they will
constantly be remade aware of your policies.
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 Fire Safety at Work

l With growing industrialization and urbanization, fire

safety has gained relevance for maintaining a safe
working environment in several establishments.
l For any establishment, it is required by law to carry
out a fire risk assessment to any industry and
produce an emergency plan.
l Of course, the best way to practice fire safety is to
make sure a fire doesn't break out in the first
place.
l That means you should always be aware of
potential hazards.

PARTHA DAS SHARMA 28

 Mining and Workplace Rescue plan

l Even in the most safety-conscious

employers' workplaces / mining operation
accidents happen, so a rescue plan is an
essential component of working at height or
in mines and should be managed by
experienced personnel and be ingrained
through training and practice.
l The lack of any form of post-accident
rescue plan - relying on employees
improvising to rescue a colleague - not only
puts the victim at risk, but also puts
rescuers in harm's way.
l Unplanned attempts at rescue often result
in secondary and tertiary injuries or
fatalities.

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Mining and Workplace Rescue team

l It is essential for every mining and accident

prone industry to establish a well-organized
and coordinated professional rescue team, to
reduce the economic and personal losses
caused by accidents and gradually promote
work safety among mining enterprises.
l Government should organize the drafting of
regulations and standards on mining
emergency rescue and conduct the
certification of professionals.

PARTHA DAS SHARMA 30

 Summary on Safety in workplace

l The key to employee

productivity is to keep them
motivated.
l Employees can remain
motivated if they feel safe and
happy at their workplace.
l It is only when the employees
feel safe at work that they can
invest the fullest of their
capacities and exploit the best
of their potentials to work.

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 Summary on Safety in workplace

l Workplace safety is the management’s

responsibility.
l It involves the formation and implementation of
safety programs.
l Employee insurance schemes and employee
safety policies help cover the risk an employee
might suffer at work. Jobs.
l Workplace safety involves training programs
that are meant to teach the employees to
handle risks.

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 Summary on Safety in workplace

l At the time of the formation of a company, its safety

goals, safety programs, policies, plans and procedures
need to be documented.
l The management should ensure the health and safety of
the employees by the means of safety education
programs.
l The importance of office safety can be promoted through
the formation of a safety committee that is assigned the
responsibility to employee safety.
l Safety committees are helpful in increasing employee
involvement.
l Violence at workplace gives rise to serious issues
pertaining to office safety.

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 Summary on Safety in workplace

l Safety is important at a workplace also because human

resource is the most important resource of an organization.
l Satisfied employees can earn for a company what money can’t
buy.
l An employer might be able to replace an employee by
another.
l But, what about the employee’s dedication towards work?
l What about the expertise he/she has invested towards his/her
work?
l Can they be replaced?
l Definitely not!
l This makes it extremely important for an employer to cater to
workplace safety, and moreover, to the lives of the employees.

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 Author’s Bio-data

l Partha Das Sharma is Graduate (B.Tech – Hons.) in Mining Engineering from IIT,
Kharagpur, India (1979) and was associated with number of mining and explosives
organizations, namely MOIL, BALCO, Century Cement, Anil Chemicals, VBC Industries,
Mah. Explosives etc., before joining the present organization, Solar Group of Explosives
Industries at Nagpur (India), few years ago.
l Author has presented number of technical papers in many of the seminars and journals on
varied topics like Overburden side casting by blasting, Blast induced Ground Vibration and
its control, Tunnel blasting, Drilling & blasting in metalliferous underground mines,
Controlled blasting techniques, Development of Non-primary explosive detonators (NPED),
Hot hole blasting, Signature hole blast analysis with Electronic detonator etc. Currently,
author has following useful blogs on Web:
l http://miningandblasting.wordpress.com/
l http://saferenvironment.wordpress.com
l http://www.environmentengineering.blogspot.com
l www.coalandfuel.blogspot.com
l Author can be contacted at E-mail: sharmapd1@gmail.com,
sharmapd1@rediffmail.com,
l -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
l Disclaimer: Views expressed in the article are solely of the author’s own and do not
necessarily belong to any of the Company.

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