Safety performance
A good safety record, but there's more to do to make it zero.
Safety performance is measured by recordable injuries. Recordable injuries include those that result in one or more days away from work (lost time injuries) and injuries where an employee or contractor cannot perform all or any part of their normal shift (restricted work day injuries). These combine to form a measure known as lost time injuries (LTIs). The lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) is the number of LTIs per 200,000 hours worked.
The all injury frequency rate (AIFR) is the total number of injuries (as outlined above) plus any medical treatment cases per 200,000 hours worked. Our all injury frequency rate has been steadily trending downwards in recent years and we are pleased that during 2010 the number of overall injuries and medical treatments decreased by more than 15 per cent. Our 2010 AIFR was 0.58 compared to 0.68 in 2009.
We also record first aid treatment cases, no matter how small they may seem. First aid cases are typically single treatments with subsequent observation or involve treatment for minor injuries only. In the event that a first aid case needs subsequent treatment, it becomes a medical treatment case which, combined with lost time injuries and restricted work day injuries, is reported as our all injury frequency rate.
Number of injuries by category
| Category | Number of injuries | |
|---|---|---|
| Lost time injuries | Lost day injuries | 5 |
| Restricted work day injuries | 11 | |
| Medical treatment cases | 18 | |
| First aid cases | 378 | |
While we acknowledge the great efforts of our people in achieving a favourable health and safety performance compared with the Australian national industry average of 1.601, our goal is to eliminate all injury and illness from our workplace and this remains an ongoing priority.
During 2010, audits against the Health, Safety, Environment and Quality Management System were conducted at Bengalla, Hail Creek Mine, Mount Thorley Warkworth and Brisbane office.
Two health and safety related commendations were awarded at Bengalla for:
- The use of the real-time noise monitoring system for proactive identification of noise impacts on-site
- A fatigue management plan including a detailed risk assessment, workforce engagement and implementation of mitigating controls
There were no major non-conformances at Bengalla.
A commendation was awarded at Mount Thorley Warkworth for the development and use of a database to create more accurate and detailed medical reports which will inform continuous improvement at site. This approach will be shared with other operations.
Five major non-conformances were observed at Mount Thorley Warkworth:
- Improvements required for the prevention and management of hydrocarbon spills around vehicle service bays and coal preparation plant
- Improvements required ensuring compliance with our standards for hazardous substances, such as use of risk assessments, training in the safe use and handling of chemicals, improvements in the use and storage of material safety data sheets, and improved chemical labelling
- Improvements required to bolster appropriate signage at area entry points, for example restricted area signage and confined spaces signage
- Unsafe lifting practices were observed during dragline maintenance. A safe work procedure for this activity was reviewed, updated and communicated to relevant maintenance crews
- Improvements required for the tagging of chains, slings and shackles. Improvements include a review of accountabilities; designated out of service or out of date collection points for tagged equipment; communications about collection points and tag colour coding system; safety interactions focussed on lifting equipment.
Hail Creek Mine and Brisbane office recorded no major non conformances or commendations.
Preventing hand injuries was an area of focus in 2010 after it was observed that these types of injuries made up about half of the actual injuries which occurred in the business during 2009. In 2010 there were 78 hand injuries compared with 93 in 2009. This figure incorporates all injuries including first aid cases.
Another area of focus was contractor safety. Contractors account for between 30 and 40 per cent of exposure hours at Rio Tinto Coal Australia, and have historically experienced a higher proportion of incidents and injuries compared with employees.
Exposure hours are the total number of hours worked at a place of employment, performing relevant duties.
During 2010 an upgraded Contactor Access Control System was introduced in NSW, together with an improved pre-qualification process.
Pre-qualification ensures that contractors wishing to work with Rio Tinto Coal Australia have completed a high standard of health and safety training and are competent to meet Rio Tinto health and safety standards. Only pre-qualified contractors are allowed access to Rio Tinto Coal Australia operations. Following the introduction of this process, a review of current engaged contractors was undertaken during the year, beginning at our New South Wales operations.
The improved pre-qualification process includes a mandatory audit of the use of the contractor health, safety and environment management system and contractors will also participate in safety leadership workshops.
Vehicles and driving-related incidents was another area of focus in 2010 following an increase in the number of vehicle incidents during 2009. Vehicle and driving incidents accounted for about 40 per cent of significant potential incidents.
In 2010, Kestrel Mine won the People's Choice Award at the Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference, while Hail Creek Mine and Blair Athol Mine received the Rio Tinto Chief Executive Safety Award and Most Improved Safety Performance Award respectively.
Bengalla took first place at the 2010 NSW Mines Rescue open cut competition, while Mount Thorley Warkworth finished second place.
| Plans for 2010 | Result |
|---|---|
| Continue focus on vehicle interactions and reducing hand injuries | Achieved, including introduction of a new metric to track performance and an in-vehicle monitoring system piloted at Hunter Valley Operations |
| Continued focus on 'peer to peer' safety interactions (safety behaviour observation tool) | Achieved |
| Safety strategy workshops with contractors. | Achieved |
| Plans for 2011 |
|---|
| Implementation of in vehicle monitoring systems at RTCA, including vehicle incident frequency rate to ensure continued focus on improvement and HSE interactions to reflect focus on driving behaviour |
| Continue contractor management improvements, including pre-qualification requirements; continue contractor management training |
| Complete a RTCA level Semi Quantitative Risk Assessment to analyse safety critical risks |
1 The total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR) for the Australian mining industry was 7.98 per million hours in 2009. This equates to 1.60 per 200,000 hours. Results for 2010 are not yet available. (International Council for Mining and Metals)
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