Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996) Guideline for a Mandatory Code of Practice Occupational Health Programme on Thermal Stress Part C: Format and Content of the Mandatory COP 8. Key elements to be addressed in the COP

 

Where the employer's risk assessment indicates a need to establish and maintain a system of occupational hygiene measurements and a system of medical surveillance, or where such systems are required by regulations, the aspects of the occupational health programme and the thermal stress management programme as set out in sections 8.1 and 8.2 below, must be addressed in the COP.

 

These key elements are shown in Figure 1: Occupational health programme below.

 

The occupational health programme to be implemented on the mine should be summarised in the COP in a flow chart similar to Figure 1: Occupational health programme. The occupational health programme has two components i.e. occupational hygiene and occupational medicine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note:

For the purpose of the risk assessment, the commodity codes, activity codes and occupat8ional codes as set out in Annexure 1 (Mandatory codes list) should be used.

 

 

 

Note:

Chapter 3 of the handbook published by the SIMRAC, "Handbook on occupational health practice in the South African mining industry", may be consulted and any other methodology to assist in conducting a risk assessment.

 

 

The COP must address the review of the risk assessment annually (based on the thermal stress monitoring data of the previous cycle) and whenever there is change at the mine that could have an impact on the original assessments, and/or at least in the following instances:

 

 

 

The employer must apply the following parameters to identify thermal stress risks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A monitoring programme is not required, but the employer must keep a portfolio of evidence.

 

 

The COP should put measures in place to ensure that a thermal stress management programme is established and maintained for all workplaces with a significant risk.

 

The  thermal  stress  management  programme  should  address  the  following aspects:

 

 

The COP must address the following points.

 

 

The COP must make provisions for the employer to put measures in place for the establishment of a thermal stress management committee whose members are appointed in writing, and have defined roles, responsibilities and authority to manage thermal stress, including but not limited to the following:

 

 

 

The outcomes of the risk assessment as in section 8.1.1 above will be utilised as inputs into the thermal stress management programme.

 

NOTE:

Where the available historical data is insufficient to enable a professional judgement regarding the extent of any risk, acceptable methodologies for the identification or the determination of thermal stress should be used.

 

 

The employer must identify the thermal environment as per the following:

 

Step 1

The sub-division of the mine into measurement areas e.g.:

 

 

NOTE:

Surface operations proceed to step 3.

Underground operations proceed to step 2

 

Step 2

 

Measurement  areas  for  underground   mines  should  be  sub-divided  into ventilation districts.

 

NOTE:

In order for an area to be classified as a ventilation district it:

 

Step 3

 

Measurement areas for surface operations must be sub-divided into activity areas as per the activity area code list found in Annexure 1: Mandatory codes list.

 

Ventilation districts must be sub-divided into activity areas as per the activity area code list found in Annexure 1: Mandatory codes list.

 

Step 4

 

The employer must categorise (as per Table 1: The classification system for heat stress and Table 2: The classification system for cold stress below) the activity areas based on the historical thermal environmental data.

 

Step 5

 

Conduct a statistical analysis to ensure that thermal environments are correctly classified. The results of the thermal environmental parameters (as per Table 1: The classification system for heat stress and Table 2: The classification system for cold stress below) used, from either historical data or measured data should be compared to the respective OEL/standard.

 

Step 6

 

Once the thermal environmental parameters (as per Table 1: The classification system for heat stress and Table 2: The classification system for cold stress below) within each activity area have been compared to the respective OEL/standard, each activity area can now be categorised into classification bands. For classification purposes, use the 90th percentile value for heat stress (the classification for heat stress should be based on the worst measured parameter) and the 10th  percentile value for cold stress.

 

NOTE:

The employer must ensure that in defining any thermal environment, the precautions listed  below are heeded to:

 

NOTE:

 

The  classification  bands for  a thermal  environment  are  tabled  below  and these tables form part of this guideline and must be complied with—

 

 

Step 7

 

Reclassification of thermal environments should be considered when any of the following events occurs:

 

 

NOTE:

 

 

The employer must implement a thermal stress monitoring strategy and clearly describe the following in the COP:

 

NOTE:

 

 

The monitoring frequency must be defined in the COP as per Table 3: Heat stress classification and monitoring frequency and Table 4: Cold stress classification and monitoring frequency below or as determined by the risk assessment, whichever is the higher standard.

 

 

 

In developing the monitoring programme the following shoudl be considered:

 

 

All working places should be monitored in terms of the most relevant parameter of the prevailing thermal environment (e.g. WB, DB and velocity) that is periodically done as per the monitoring frequency.

 

 

Where prevailing conditions are closer to the upper limits of the category or  where trends are discernible, the frequency of monitoring must be increased in accordance to the risk in order to manage the risk on a day-to-day basis.

 

 

The COP must describe a quality control programme taking into account, but not limited to, the following:

 

 

 

The COP should address the hierarchy of controls,  which are going to be implemented to "mitigate the risk of exposure to thermal stress".  The following hierachy of controls should be taken into consideration:

 

 

 

HSM must be implemented by the employer where the risk assessment determines a significant risk. The following aspects must be addressed in the thermal stress COP and where applicable, cross-reference to the standard operating procedures of the mine:

 

 

 

The  COP requires a CSM  programme  to  be  implemented  where  the  risk assessment determines a significant risk.

 

The following points must be addressed in the CSM programme:

 

 

Note:

Annexure 4: Cold stress management should be consulted when drawing up the CSM programme.

 

 

The COP must address the following points:

 

 

 

Note:

 

 

 

 

 

The following physical evaluation must be performed to assess the medical and physical fitness of an individual to undergo HTS (see Annexure 6: Medical/physical examinations).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The employer must develop and implement a HTS procedure to monitor employees, taking into  consideration the following (see Annexure 7: Heat tolerance screening):

 

 

 

Whenever there is an unexplained incident of an employee collapsing whilst working in an abnormally hot environment, such incident should be treated as a possible case of heatstroke.

 

The core body temperature should be taken and there must be rapid cooling of the affected employee as suggested in Annexure 12: Addendum for the thermal stress guideline on the criteria for heat-related illnesses (heat exhaustion and heat stroke).

 

 

The COP must address the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Historical data is to be maintained as provided for in section 15(2)(a) and (b) of the MHSA.