Proceedings of The 3rd International Academic Conference on Research in Engineering and Technology
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Shift Work, Extended Hours, and Potential Impacts on Mine Productivity, Health, and Safety in South African Deep Mines
E.Y. Fontama and Prof. S.M. Rupprecht
ABSTRACT:
Decades ago, production and profit were at the forefront of mine management strategies in most deep gold and platinum mines. One design and operational criterion for mining activities is working shifts and hours. These two criteria affect a mine’s productivity and profits. However, the recent increase in night-shift casualties has drawn attention to working conditions. It has resulted in interest in shift work, extended working hours, and possible impacts on mine production, health, and safety in the mining environment. This study examined a quadrant i.e. KPMA Key Performing Mining Activities of conventional mining activities and their implications for shift work. The quadrants include production, health and safety, applicable legislation, and the effect on productivity and profitability. Research methods is bases on structured questionnaires distributed to gather quantitative and qualitative data on various KPMA metrics with participants selected from several deep underground mines: A stratified random sampling technique will be employed to capture the perspectives and performance metrics from different strata of KPMA within the mining operations. The analysis and interpretation of data collected will comprehensively evaluate the impact of KPMA on conventional 8-hour 20 minutes, the extended 10-hour, 12-hour, and Conops Continuous Operations shifts cycle. The authors shall be able to communicate the benefits and challenges faced by the different shifts cycles.
keywords: Shift work, Shift hours, Key Performing Mining Activity (KPMA)