Physical Hazards in Rio Tinto Company: Noise and Dust

Running head: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT 1
Occupational health management
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OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT
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Introduction
Physical hazards are one of the leading emerging occupational health issues in the Rio
Tinto Company. Rio Tinto Company was founded in 1873 and is one of the leading mining and
Metal Corporation in the world. The company produces commodities such as iron ore, uranium,
aluminium and diamonds. The company also practices bauxite and iron ore refining. The
physical hazards in Rio Tinto Corporation have a significant health effect on the workers and
hence much has to be done to reduce these risks. This review aims at investigating how the
physical hazards manifest in the workplace. Secondly, it seeks to establish how the hazard causes
harm and the people who are more susceptible to the hazard. Lastly, it aims to determine how the
hazards may be controlled, monitored and eliminated to help protect the health of the workers.
The physical hazards are of great significance in the company due to the high risk it poses to the
workers and the serious losses associated with it.
In Rio Tinto Company, physical hazards such as noise pollution and dust manifest in the
workplace through the equipment and general plant noise, mining equipment, combined with
high volume settings on two-way and FM stereo radios in the equipment cabins (Occupational
health, n.d). According to Pereira (2014), noise pollution can be defined as any unwanted or
disturbing noise that causes harm or interferes with humans and wildlife. Many mining industries
often generate too much noise that can have a negative effect on the hearing capabilities of
people often leading to hearing loss. The mining activities that increase noise pollution include
blasting and drilling, crushing, unloading and loading and excavating (Simion, Vreme, Kovacs &
Toth, 2013).
In Rio Tinto Company, the pit equipment operators, blasting crew and grade control
workers, rubber liners, reduction workers and the laboratory workers are exposed to 85dB of

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noise. The mine maintenance workshop workers and tailings storage facility operators are
exposed to more than 85dB, which predisposes the workers to problems such as hearing loss,
tinnitus and other health effects. The main reasons that led to the exceedance of the sound limit
include maintenance tasks, general plant noise, high volumes on two-way radios and heavy
mobile equipment (Occupational health, n.d). Majority of the employees in the mining industries
suffer from Noise-induced hearing loss due to increased exposure to high noise levels.
The occupational Noise-Induced Hearing Loss is known to develop slowly over an
extended period due to continuous loud noise in the industries. In Rio Tinto, the effects of
increased noise exposure manifest from about 40 years of age. The hearing damage occurs when
sound stimulates the tiny hair-like cells in a person's ear, which then sends messages to the
individual's brain. Noise-induced hearing loss then occurs once too much sound destroys the
delicate hair cells. Noise-induced hearing loss has no cure and is most likely to worsen with an
increase in exposure (Dobie, 2018).
Dust is also an emerging issue in Rio Tinto Company. According to Natural Resources
(2018) the mining activities in the company such as drilling, blasting, hauling of ore and loading
increase the emission of dust. Activities such as pulverising of dry ore t the fine crushing plant
and primary crushing circuit also lead to increased levels of fine dust at the processing area and
the surrounding. In 2017, it was noted that some of the fine dust that is found from the
extraction of silica from the ore was able to reach the lungs. The laboratory workers exceeded
the occupational exposure limit of 0.1 mg/m3. This means that they were predisposed to
respiratory illnesses, damage of airways and lungs depending on the nature and size of the
particles (Natural Resources, 2018). The reduction workers processing maintenance workers
were exposed to 0.09 mg/m3 and 0.08 mg/m3 respectively. Although this is below the limit, it