Mine site emergencies can come in many forms that are driven by both environmental extremities and the operations themselves. These include fires, floods, chemical spills or incidents, fumes, vapour gas or radiation leaks, explosions, aircraft issues, plant and vehicles, electrical problems, staff injuries (or fatalities), terrorism and unauthorised entry.
In its 2023 Emergency Management Guidance for Mines in Victoria report, the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) said every attempt should be made to include local emergency services and council in the development and review of the emergency plan.
“By establishing a partnership with the emergency services, the mine will better understand how emergency responses are managed in their local area, and they may have valuable advice to help you co-ordinate an emergency response. “This will also help first responders understand the mine site, operating environment, and emergency preparedness.
“The local council will benefit from further understanding (beyond any planning permit knowledge) of mining hazards that could impact on the local community, as well as the intersection of public roads with mine site access roads.”
During these exercises, the MCA said, companies should test different aspects of crises response, including what to do during a communication failure (which could possibly be caused by a power loss), how to use self-rescuers under simulated emergency conditions (for example, dark, dusty, smoky environments where there is time pressure to operate the self-rescuers) as well as the installation of a system to quickly locate all persons within the mine at any time.
Rescue equipment
Additionally, any strategy should provide adequate rescue equipment, take into account shift arrangements for employees while involving contractors if they have a role in the strategy, and ensure that people trained in the use of rescue equipment are eitheron-site or available on-call.
Moreover, it must evaluate the effectiveness of the escape system by testing all ladder and escape ways, on top of evaluating the available opportunities for employees to practice their role in an emergency.
Given the potential dangers inherent in mining operations, which are often exacerbated by their remoteness, it is crucial that project proponents are fully prepared for an unexpected emergency.
Debriefing important
Finally, there should be a debriefing to analyse the effectiveness of the plan. Any identified additional controls, or changes to controls,should be undertaken as soon as practicable.
In its emergency response plan for the remote McArthur River lead-zinc operation in the remote Northern Territory, located some 970 kilometres south east of Darwin, Glencore has highlighted the fact that any crisis strategy requires two key people – the scene controller and the emergency response co-ordinator (ERC).
The former, the mining house said, retains the overall responsibility for the initial incident response while remaining the key point of contact for the response team and assisting with information and specialist advice from external authorities.
In addition, it is the scene controller who also declares that the emergency is over and ensures the scene of the incident has been barricaded off to allow an investigation.
Meanwhile, the ERC is responsible for the management of the emergency response team which, once notified of an accident, will – amongst other steps – check that personal fire equipment bags are available, ensure that mobile and satellite phones, as well as radio communications, are available as required, on top of assisting the paramedic with any medical treatment.
It is also the duty of the senior response person to ensure allequipment is serviced, cleaned and replaced after use, participate in the debrief, as well as prepare reports as required.
