Miners and Shot Firers
Operate plant in mines to excavate, load and transport ore and minerals, and prepare and detonate explosives at mining and demolition sites.
Blast day at Red Plain
You are a shot firer on the blast crew at an open-cut mine, working to the blast plan prepared by the engineers. It is a calm, clear morning and the blast is scheduled for noon. Your job is judgement more than speed, because everyone at the mine depends on the area being clear and the plan being followed to the letter.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
The blast has been moved up by an hour because the shovel crew is waiting on the new bench. I know the patrol of the exclusion zone is not finished, but surely you can sign off and we will catch up on the rest as we go?
Sign off on the earlier time and finish the patrol after the blast has been called, because the shovel crew is idle
The blast is called before the patrol is done. Part of the zone has never been checked, and a contractor's utility vehicle is still parked inside it. The blast is stopped at the last moment, and the near miss triggers an investigation.
Tell him the new time works only once the exclusion zone has been fully patrolled and signed clear
The patrol is done in time and the blast goes ahead an hour early, but you spent the next half hour arguing with Dario over the radio. Staying calm and explaining why would have helped him accept it.
Keep to the original time, explain why the patrol takes as long as it does, and offer a plan for the shovel crew
Dario grumbles, then puts the shovel crew on another bench for the hour. The patrol finishes with time to spare, and the blast is on schedule.
Shot firer, we have a vehicle that has driven into the exclusion zone through the east gate. The driver says he got lost in the dust and did not see the signs. We are looking for him now. How do you want to proceed?
Hold the blast, make sure everyone in the zone is accounted for and confirm it is clear before you do anything
The driver is found and escorted out. The blast is delayed by forty minutes, but nobody is in the zone when it finally goes. The gate signs are changed the next day.
Go ahead anyway, because the vehicle will probably get out on its own before the countdown ends and nobody wants another delay
No one can be certain where the driver has gone. The blast is called off at the last moment by the safety lead. A blast cannot go ahead on a guess about where a person is.
Move the countdown back by ten minutes and hope the driver finds the way out
The extra time helps a little, but nobody has actually confirmed where the driver is. A delay with no search is just waiting and hoping.
The wind has swung a bit round to the south and it feels stronger. Dust is blowing toward the road where the buses run. I wasn't sure if I should say anything because the plan has already been approved.
Tell her it is her call to make and that you will check the plan again if she is sure
Ellie feels she has been put on the spot as a trainee. You have not given her your own view, and the decision is left hanging.
Thank her, check the conditions yourself, and tell the blast supervisor what you both noticed
The wind is stronger than the plan allowed. The supervisor delays the blast until it settles. Ellie learns that the plan is a starting point, and that speaking up is worth it.
Tell her the plan was approved by people who know better and that she should not worry about the wind
The wind carries a cloud of dust across the bus road. Nobody is hurt, but it is a close thing, and Ellie decides not to mention what she notices next time.
How it went
The blast went ahead when the zone was clear and the wind had settled. Mining jobs are about big machines, tight rules and people who look out for each other. Would you like work where the rules exist because someone once got it wrong?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The crack at the edge of the haul road
A fictional case set in an open-cut mine on a fictional inland plain, with haul trucks, drill rigs and a blast crew.
The situation
Marlon drove a haul truck on the night shift at Red Plain Mine. On a stretch of the haul road beside a steep drop, his headlights picked out a thin dark line running along the edge, about a truck length from the berm. It was easy to miss, and every driver on the shift had passed it already. The pit was behind its target for the week, and the section he was on was the fastest route to the crusher.
What they did
Marlon slowed, stopped well back from the line and radioed the control room with the location and what he had seen. The controller asked him to hold while she sent a supervisor. He waited with his lights on and the hazard beacon flashing so that other trucks would see him. The supervisor closed that lane and a surveyor examined the edge at first light.
How it turned out
The surveyor found that the road edge had begun to slump after rain. The lane was rebuilt and the traffic was rerouted for a day. The route was slower, and the shift missed its target. Marlon's report was held up at the next safety meeting as a good example of speaking up.
What would you do?
- How would you feel about holding up a whole haul route over a thin line only you had noticed?
- Why might other drivers have passed that crack without reporting it?
- What would you want the control room to do when you called?