DPI UPDATE (Issue 23)

Traffic Management/Mobile Equipment Blitz

John Mitas, DPI Manager Minerals & Extractive Operations

In the months of June and July 2005, inspectors from the Minerals and Extractive Operations Group conducted a Mobile Plants/Traffic Management blitz.

This involved inspectors conducting unannounced visits to mines and quarries across the state. The blitz mainly targeted areas such as Road Design, Traffic Management, Operator Competency and Mobile Plant.

A number of notices and directions have been issued by the inspectors and will be followed up to ensure compliance. The blitz has highlighted that more work is required to ensure that the critical controls targeted in the audit are in place and working effectively.

Analysis of the data collected indicates the following:

Road Designs
Road designs were generally acceptable across the sites, with only a few with road width and muddy (traction) problems. Edging/Bunding/Windrows are available at most sites but only very few sites are fully compliant with the height requirements or maintenance of it.

Traffic Control
This area has the greatest number of non-compliance. Many sites do not appear to have formal traffic plans in place. Another significant finding is that the larger sites tend to have better traffic control/signage than the smaller sites.

Operator Competency
This is also another area of concern where Training accounts for about 12% of total noncompliance. Formal fatigue management documentation is minimal across most sites.

Mobile Equipment
Pre-start checklist and maintenance account for about 18% of total non-compliance. Again, the larger sites appear to have better management of these areas.

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