COMPLIANCE WITHIN THE BLASTING ENVIRONMENT

Tibor Szana Chief Inspector: Occupational Health and Safety Branch: Inspections and Enforcement Services

Content

•  Thispresenta.onwilltouchonseveralaspectswhichIwouldliketobringtoyoura:en.onsuchas:….– Co-opera.on– Co-regula.on–  Competence– Riskandriskmanagement

•  Approximately15yearsagoIwasundergoingexplosivestrainingthatwasarrangedwithvariousstakeholdersoftheDepartmentofLabouracrosstheProvinces.

•  Duringthis.meIgottowitnesssomeblas.ngthatincludedthebreakingofhugebouldersorrocksifyoulikeusingashotgunformat.

•  Whilewatchingonepar.cularrockbreak,standingquiteadistanceaway,andifyouknowmyluck,asliveroftherockliterallyshotpastme.

Co-opera.on•  Thereisaglobalmovetoensurethatthatpar.esengagedinac.vi.esthatimpactoneachothercreatelinkstocommunicatewithoneanotheronvariousaspectsrelatedtooccupa.onalhealthandsafety.

•  Communica.oniskeytotherela.onshipworking.

•  Communica.onisformalandensuresthatthereareclearchannelswhichallowsthebusinesstocon.nuetooperateop.mally.

Co-regula.on•  Whatisco-regula.on.•  The1993OHSActreferredtothefactthatitwantedtopromoteselfregula.on.

•  ItwasduringaperiodwhengovernmentwantedemployersandemployeestoworktogethertoresolveworkplaceissuesthroughthemanagementofanOHSmanagementsystem.

•  Thiswastheexpecta.onoftheBCEAaswellthroughtheintroduc.onofworkplaceforums.

•  Oneofthestructuresthatwassupposedtoassistintheadministra.onoftheSMSwasthehealthandsafetyrepresenta.veandthehealthandsafetycommi:ee.

•  Incomesco-regula.on.•  ThismeantthatgovernmenthadtobecomemoreinvolveddirectlyinOHSattheworkplace…andnotjustthroughPolicy.

CivilBlasters•  Competencehasbeenoneofthecri.calcornerstoneofOHSprofessionalsgenerallyintheOHSAct.

•  TrainingintheOHSActhasbeenanunimportantissueformostprofessionals.

•  Thisischanging.Ithastochange.Itwillchange.Ourlegisla.onwillimposethisrequirementonallprofessionalsopera.nginhighriskenvironmentsorthosewishingtooperateashealthandsafetyprofessionals.

•  Letsbeclearonthisma:erthough,wedonotseektoturntheblasterintoasafetyprofessionalasitwerebut,….safetyisanintegralpartofanyprofession,thehighertherisk,thehighertheproficiencyrequirementrelatedtooccupa.onalhealthandsafety.

RiskandRiskAssessment•  "risk"meanstheprobabilitythatahazardwouldcausepersonal

injury[willoccur],illnessorthedeathofanemployeeoranyotherpersonordamagetoproperty

•  "riskassessment'means,theprocessofevalua9ngtheriskstoaperson’shealthandsafetyfromworkplacehazardsandisasystema9cassessmentofallaspectsofworkthatconsiders:–  acompletehazardiden.fica.on;–  iden.fica.onofallwhomaybeaffectedbythehazard;–  howthepersonisaffected;–  theanalysisandevalua.onoftherisks;and–  priori.sa.onofrisks

riskmanagement

•  “riskmanagement”meanstheiden.fica.onandmi.ga.onofrisksbytheapplica.onofappropriatecontrolmeasures;

Opera.ngontheoutskirts•  Blastersaregenerallyloaners,opera.ngonthefringesofeveryopera.on.

•  Blastershowever,areinvolvedinopera.onsthatmayimpactonthelivesofthoseonthepremisesonwhichtheyoperate(S14andS8)andonthosethatmaypassincloseproximity(S9)towhereblas.ngmaytakeplace.

•  IrememberanincidentMrRamabulanainves.gatedinwhichIthinkseveralmotorvehiclesweredamagedthathadbeenaffectedbyablas.ngopera.on.

•  Howdoesthatevenhappen?

Women•  Womenasapor.onofthegeneralpopula.on=26.5millionor

51.3%(Statssa,2011)•  Womeninagegroup15-64=18,456million•  Labourforce=9,672million•  Employed=6,840million•  Thereisanincreasingnumberofwomenenteringthe

construc.onsectorwhichcouldleadtoemploymenteventuallyintheblas.ngsector.

•  I’mnotsurehowmanywomenareemployedintheblas.ngsector….however……

•  ThereisNospecificlegisla9onandnoguidenoteonhowemployersaretodealwiththisma?errela9ngtowomenandOHSinrela9ontoblas9ng.

Youth•  Youthpopula.on(15to34yearsold)=19,8millionandabout

6,1millionareemployed•  LargelyanuncontestedterraininsofarasOHSlegisla.onis

concerned.•  InSouthAfricawegenerallydonotapplyourselvestotheYouth

asagrouporcategoryrequiringspeciala:en.on.•  Notsoinanumberofothercountrieswheretheyrunspecific

programscateringspecificallyforyouth.•  Youthfallwithinthehighriskgroup,asitisagroupthatisknown

forbeingresponsibleforahighnumberofincidents,whencomparedtoothergroups.

Inconclusion…

•  TheDepartmentreliesonitspartnerstohelpitmakeacombineddifferenceinanyindustry.

•  Openand‘frank’discussioniskey.•  Competenceisparamount.

Iwouldliketowishyouaproduc9vedayandhopethatitwillcontributetoyourlearning

insomeway.

End