Focus - a refresher program for supervisors

All of the feedback sheets from all of the participants to show how various people achieved “aha moments”  can be downloaded, with a second set here..

I also distribute and use two incident reports from the NSW department web site. I would use appropriate case studies for each mine. The case studies will vary from mine to mine, but the ones I have used are available here and here

The program has been presented as an 8 hour, supervisor refresher eight times at one mine. 84 OCEs, supervisors, step-up-supervisors, superintendents, and technical, safety, training, environmental and HR specialists attended. The participants came from production, maintenance and the preparation plant. The group size ranged from 8 to 15. It was made up of people starting or finishing their rotation, either the first or last day or the day before or after.

This is the sequence that I present the program in, and the way I make sure it is relevant to the audience:

Hudson’s cultural maturity model

I talk about my 50 years’ experience in the industry, starting a fortnight after 4 people were killed in a fire at a nearby underground coal mine. On Hudson’s maturity scale, the situation was largely uncontrolled. Accidents happen. There was an expectation by management that crews in the part of the mine not affected by the fire would continue producing while a rescue and fire-fighting operation was going on. They refused to send transports in to the other panels.

There were some far reaching changes after that incident, mostly reactive. As a result of the Bulli fire self-rescuers, Garforth oil lamps, stonedust barriers and dust sampling were introduced. Mines rescue was significantly upgraded. But even then, the industry had not really reached the compliant stage. I then look at the statistics for fatalities over the 50 years. The reduction has come as the maturity has increased. The problem we are facing is getting past the plateau we have reached.

Best advice you have been given, or would give to a new supervisor

I use a technique to have them record and offer their own answer, so that they don’t offer “same for me” responses.

Locate the responses on the maturity model – almost all are “proactive” or “resilient.”

Typical answers:

  • Get to know the people that work for you
  • Listen to their reactions when given a job
  • If you’re not sure ask a more experienced colleague – you are not alone.

I come back to these responses during the day.

Reason’s change continuum

Run through the continuum as a reason why this refresher training is being run.

Again I come back to this as the day progresses.

It’s the law

Regulation s6, Basic elements of SHMS, s 26, meaning of a supervisor, Act s56, appointment of supervisors

Ask them to specify some of the risks that they assess, hazards they control.

Case Study 1

Use brief description of a light / heavy vehicle fatality from NSW Inspectorate web site to ask what risks or hazards are present in this situation?  As presented, no accident has happened, it simply contains a description of a situation where a number of risks and hazards are raised.

The information is presented as:

At about midnight on Saturday, a 38 year old trainee plant operator parked the haul truck she was operating at a coal stockpile and collected a Landcruiser that had been parked at the stockpile by another operator at the start of the shift. She was assigned to collect other workers and go to a crib break.

A truck operator was hauling coal along the 9th haul road. As he approached the T-intersection with the stockpile ramp he saw the Landcruiser going down the ramp, away from the truck.

Vehicles approaching the T-intersection from the ramp were required to give way to vehicles on the haul road.

Treat this as the amount of information a supervisor starts with. You would know some of it from background information. Other information may come in a phone call. You may need to ask questions and confirm assumptions.

How do you deal with the requirements of section 6 of the regulation.

  • Manage hazards
  • Control Hazards
  • Deal with safety and health data
  • Report
  • Record

These are some of the alarm bells this story starts ringing.

  • Midnight
  • Saturday
  • Trainee operator
  • Operating near coal stockpile

By referring to the full report published by the NSW department, look at each of the contributing factors raised.

As supervisors, they are responsible for checking and examining work areas. (Reg s94) also for reports and records. What reports exist? Have to be made for various contributing factors.

How do Safety Observations, SLAMs and JSEAs fit in with the requirements of s 94?

Other sections deal with the hierarchy of controls, human error and incident reporting.

I use specific local examples for these. I ask them for examples of things that are done differently here to other places they have worked. I call them innovations. I come back to the change management model with one of their local innovations.

Then I deal with:

Emergency response

I ask them to describe an emergency situation that may occur in the area under their responsibility.

After each has nominated one, I then look at the situation from a bow-tie risk assessment perspective.

What controls are in place to prevent the incident happening. What contingencies are in place if the unwanted event occurs?

Case study 2.

Information is drip fed so that they have to make decisions as a situation develops. Again the situation is based on a report from the NSW inspectorate’s website.

Statutory duties

I ask what they understand by statutory duties. Generally it is about inspections, reports, handling emergencies.

I then ask them to look at a list of 50 sections extracted from the regulation which either have an SOP or the SHMS must deal with.

We talk about how they are dealt with.