How to keep workers safe? Best practices
Today on the BKT blog you can find a few suggestions to improve the safety of workers, vehicles and tires in mines.
We at BKT consider safety a priority, especially in at risk workplaces like quarries and mines, which involve round the clock work shifts and constantly operating equipment to maintain productivity. As a result, one has to pay extreme attention to avoid accidents to people and machinery.
Today we are providing you with a few suggestions to improve the safety of workers, vehicles and tires in mines.
Workers safety
Safeguarding employees in the workplace is a big responsibility. In every construction site, quarry or mine there are one or more managers who have the specific task of ensuring that the employees can work in total safety. Procedures, rules and appropriate equipment help to guarantee the safety of people, and drastically prevent potential accidents.
As well as complying with the safety laws in force in your country, here are three small measures you can adopt to guarantee the safety of workers:
- Create a safety culture: to reduce risks it is essential to create a real safety culture through employees training. To increase their level of attention we advise you present information in a creative way, so the concepts don't become common place or boring. It is important that workers are aware of their actions and never underestimate the dangers posed by their work environment.
- Fall protection: one of the many risks to which operators are exposed to in mines are falls. For this reason, it is essential to follow the safety procedures and always wear protective equipment, like the most recent remote anchoring systems, which harness operators at the waist, leaving their hands free to do their job with total protection from falls.
- Specific safety equipment: the number one ally to guarantee mine safety is using the appropriate equipment which must always be complete with battery light sources, breathing apparatus, hearing and sight protection equipment and an emergency kit, as well as specific safety devices to be employed when accessing certain areas of the mine, and for particular tasks. Each employee must carry all the equipment at all times. For this purpose, the market offers suitable and space-saving harnesses or belts that allow the wearer to always have access to the safety equipment, without having to load and carry too much weight. It is the safety officer's duty to ensure that the equipment complies with the standards, and is available and functioning at all times for all employees.
Machinery and tire safety
Of utmost importance, in addition to taking care of staff, is the rigorous check of machinery and its components. Let's see a few useful tips.
- Regular machine inspections: For the employees to be safeguarded as much as possible, and to ensure appropriate machinery conditions are maintained, it is necessary that the machines used in the mine are subject to a thorough and regular inspection by a scheduled maintenance service team. Their work consists, for example, in checking the engine oil levels, the level of cooling liquids and lubricants, radiator cleaning and the wear of oil and air filters. We talked about it in this article.
- Correct tire maintenance: Even tires need a correct and precise maintenance for optimum performance: the monitoring of inflation pressure, and monitoring of the state of wear are operations that should be carried out on a regular basis. It is always advisable to rely on a scheduled maintenance service performed by specialist companies that deal with the pressure monitoring, tire performance analysis and repair and replacement of tires as well as disposal of worn tires.
BKT recommends…Earthmax SR 53
For the harsh environments of mines, BKT recommends EARTHMAX SR 53 an All Steel radial tire with steel belts designed for use on dozers and loaders engaged in loading and unloading operations in difficult conditions like rocky areas, caves and underground mines. Its cut-resistant compound makes it resistant to cuts, punctures, abrasions and even to the heat normally produced during heavy lifting.
The deep tread, classified L-5, allows tire wear reduction, thus extending the life-cycle usage, while the particular lug design and square shoulder provides outstanding self-cleaning features by facilitating the ejection of stones and foreign matter that could damage the tire itself and the machine.
These are just a few tips that we are certain will certainly improve the safety of workers in mines. Do you have other suggestions?
