Occupational Hygiene Assessment and Control at BHP Mining Operations

This report delves into the occupational hygiene practices of BHP Billiton, focusing on the challenges faced in its mining operations. It examines the importance of occupational hygiene in establishing a safe work environment and reducing exposure to hazards such as traumatic injuries, rock falls, and chemical exposures. The report details the principles of occupational hygiene at BHP, including material inventory processes and the role of hygienists in identifying, assessing, and controlling health hazards. Part A discusses BHP's material and process inventory, the importance of people and processes, hazard control initiatives, management strategies, quality assurance, and evaluation methods. Part B outlines an evaluation strategy for determining hazard exposure, including hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment, and risk estimation. The report emphasizes the need for a proactive approach to workplace safety, including walk-through surveys, management commitment, and continuous evaluation to protect workers' health and limit environmental damage. The report concludes by highlighting the significance of implementing effective strategies and quality assurance to ensure worker safety and well-being, providing valuable insights into BHP's approach to occupational hygiene.

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Occupational hygiene
BHP Billiton

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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1
Part A..........................................................................................................................................................3
Principles of occupational hygiene of BHP with material inventory process...........................................4
Material and process inventory................................................................................................................5
People..................................................................................................................................................5
Process.................................................................................................................................................6
Take the occupational hazards control Initiatives................................................................................6
Management........................................................................................................................................7
Quality assurance.................................................................................................................................8
Evaluation............................................................................................................................................9
Part B...........................................................................................................................................................9
Evaluation strategy for BHP to determine the exposure of hazards.........................................................9
Hazard identification...........................................................................................................................9
Dose-response assessment.................................................................................................................10
Exposure Assessment........................................................................................................................11
Risk estimation and characterization.................................................................................................12
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................13
Bibliography..............................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
This report aims to understand how BHP needs to handle occupational challenges within
the workplace. BHP is the mining industry, and the employee of the company faced various
health issues and hazards while underground mining. This report includes how BHP utilizes
occupational hygiene practices at the workplace to reduce the risk of exposure. In addition, it
will include a walk through survey within the organization with the construction the Material and
process inventory and develop strategies for evaluating the workplace practices to identify the
hazards situation.
Overview of the company
BHP Billiton is the largest organization based in Australia founded in the year of 1985.
The company discovers natural resources across countries. The industry engages in the
exploration, production, and development of oil and gas properties. Also, their activity includes
mining of silver copper, Zinc, Lead, Molybdenum, uranium, iron ores, and gold. The purpose of
the company is to create long-term shareholder value with the discovery and development of
natural resources. Apart from that, the organization deals with the provision of freight, finance
and other trading and marketing services. The organization is having the objectives to support
employees to grow and develop their skills. However, their employees face various health issues
while mining operations. The company has around 166$ of market capitalization and
approximately 52.8bn of revenue (Bloomberg, 2019).

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Part A
Work is important for human lives development and personal growth. However, some
activities, for instance, food production, extraction of raw materials, manufacturing of goods and
extraction of raw material and mining natural resources operations creates various occupational
health hazards for the workers of company, nearby communities and general environment (Shao,
2018).
It is essential for any organization to develop the process in such a way so that they can
eliminate the risk of hazards exposure and ensure the safety of the employees’ health. Every
organization has to maintain best hygiene practices with their material inventory process so that
they can reduce the risk at the beginning level of the overall mining and other operations.
Mining operation
As the BHP is the leading mining operations hence occupational hygiene is important for
the company to establish a safe work environment. Workers of the company faced various
challenges and risk with health issues such as Traumatic injury remains the significant issues
also rock fall, explosions and various other cause during the mining operations. The company
supports its employees to grow and develop their skills (BHP Billiton , 2017). Due to the mining
operation, the employees of the company often face various health issues within the workplace.
These mining operations lead to an increase in different chemicals and physical hazards. BHP’s
largest mine and complex minerals and its material inventory process, which make the business
risky with the wide occupational health hazards to noisa, manganese diesel exhaust particulate

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fluorides and sulfuric acid during (Wheatley, 2017). These hazards are quite serious and it is
essential for BHP to protect its workers from these issues. Mining is always been the major
hazardous of occupations. With the increasing demand for natural resource, the health challenges
and risk increasing.
These occupational health hazards and release of harmful chemicals at the workplace can
be prevented through various hazard control interventions which can not only protect company’s
workers' health but also limit the environmental damage which has arises due to industrialization
(Branco, 2019). Hence due to this, the BHP has to make changes with its material inventory
process in such a way so that they can maintain their hygiene practices. If the harmful chemicals
can be eliminated from the workplace it will reduce the risk of occupational hazards and will also
not affects employees of the company. BHP also has a specific aim for the hygiene practices,
prevention, and control of hazard which is arising while mining and other operations (BHP
Billiton , 2017).
Principles of occupational hygiene of BHP with material inventory process
With the principal of occupational hygiene, the company focuses on establishing a safe
work environment for its employees (BHP, 2018). As BHP has largest and complex mines
processing operations, it identifies, assesses and also direct and advice on occupational hygiene
risk and issues which is encountered in the underground mine, surface metallurgical process and
at refinery operations which can impact its workers form environment and related sources. The
hygienist of the company handles the health occupational hygiene system. The system identify
evaluate and control the health hazard (NiNNES, 2018).

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 The company provides specialist direct workers on management and control of
occurred risk from chemicals and physical hazards. So that the specialist can take
immediate step while buying the material and inventory including chemicals so that the
risk of exposure can be reduced at the beginning level.
 Hygienist also analyses operational health and hygiene data to ensure compliance with
the legal obligation. With the material inventory hygienist also manage the inventory
and develop inventory accounting to measure, classify, verify the risk.
 The company also review occupational hygiene and provide various health surveillance
programs. Primary accounting and secondary accounting helps company to manage the
toxic material and inventory and ensure the quality and quantity.
 They also facilitate the risk management strategies for hygiene risk and support and
monitor current ongoing health program as well and material inventory management.
These strategies include real time inventory management with the use of single digital
thread.
 Make a strategy and implement the effectiveness of exposure reduction initiatives.
 Monitor and develop health management strategies such as mining with the lean
manufacturing and inventory mindset (BHP Billiton , 2017).
Material and process inventory
People
People are the most important assets of the company with the mining inventory process.
Basically inventory management includes inventory and assets management and inventory

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accounting system. BHP has to ensure that all the workers of the company in the material and
process inventory are aware of the hazards that can occur while underground mining, surface
metallurgical process and smelter and refinery. Also are they aware of all the chemicals and
physical hazards. The management team also has to ensure that all the team members or
employees are properly trained (Bahn, 2013).
Process
The overall process has to document and the points of related occupational hazards and
health risk however the company has everything documented (Wheatley, 2017). They have to set
up the early warning system to avoid any mismanagement of inventory. The specialist has to
review the whole material used by the company and prefer nontoxic substitute. They have to use
container and material which is less hazardous to health. When it comes to chemical the
Company has to test the chemicals with the samples before using it. They also have to monitor
the effectiveness of control methods and practices. Whenever possible measure the hazards at
each area and has to take required actions which lead to increase the health issues. There are
various process with which the company can manage the potential risk for instance with the
primary management and secondary management can helps to take measurement of the each
section.
Take the occupational hazards control Initiatives
With the greater demand for controls methods of occupational hazards, the company has
to anticipate the hazards that can occur while working and this can be reduced which the
effective inventory management. Later the company has to provide prevention and control of
hazards which includes the process of developing and implementing the strategies to reduce the

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risk and accuracies of harmful hazards (Oldenburg, 2010). Occupational health assessment is
also essential before the design of the control method of inventory management. The company
has to make proper design and adequate layout also effective technology to control the hazards
(Lundgren, 2018). For instance Geological methods, geochemical and Geophysical Methods can
help the overall mining operations and material inventory management.
Walk through survey
The company has also utilized the walkthrough survey. Walkthrough a survey involves the
walking tour of the workplace. This walk-through system helps the company to evaluate the
work environment and gain knowledge of the company’s operations, structure, methods, and
habits of workers which provide routes of exposure to the occupational hazards (Hussain, 2019).
Here is the walkthrough survey of the company includes:
 Survey the company obtain the overview the overall inventory process and management
 Identify the major hazards in every level of inventory and material process
 Evaluate the effectiveness of any methods of material and inventory management that is
implemented at the workplace (Garrad, 2019).
Also, the specialist often asks for feedbacks for the required measurement. They also ask that
which hazard needs to measure and which worker have their exposure assessed.
Management
The Management incudes the decision making usage of the activities towards the
objective of the decreasing the hazard and activity that is required in accomplishing this. The
board includes basic leadership with regards to the objectives to be accomplished and activities

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required to productively accomplish these objectives, with investment of all worried, just as
anticipating and maintaining a strategic distance from, or perceiving and illuminating, the issues
which may make obstructions to the fulfillment of the required assignments. It ought to be
remembered that logical information is no confirmation of the administrative skill required to run
a productive program (Kara-Peketi, 2018).
The significance of executing and implementing right strategies and quality confirmation
cannot be overemphasized, since there is much contrast between works done and function
admirably done. In addition, the genuine goals, not the middle of the road steps, should fill in as
a measuring stick; the proficiency of a word related cleanliness program ought to be estimated
not by the quantity of overviews completed, but instead by the quantity of reviews that prompted
real activity to ensure laborers' wellbeing (Notley, 2019).
Quality assurance
With the stage of quality assurance, BHP has to conduct quality control and capacity
testing of the overall inventory which will be used in the operations. Also, they have to measure
the control methods and level risk controlled by the tools. However, BHP has analytical
laboratories that measure the hazard level and develop the strategies. The company has to
encompass the sampling measurement of the chemicals and other material. Overall quality
assurance includes the analyses of the identified hazards and strategy design factor (Nogueira,
2018).

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Evaluation
Quality assurance has to be applied to all the steps with the buying of material and
maintaining it for the use which have been taken for occupational hygiene practices and at all the
level of operation whether it is an underground mining surface metallurgical process or smelter
and refinery. After completing this process the team has to review the overall process of
inventory management and make required changes (Nogueira, 2018).
Part B
Evaluation strategy for BHP to determine the exposure of hazards
Hazard identification
Before conducting any hygiene investigation it is also essential for the company to set the
purpose. The purpose has to identify the access to exposure of the hazards at the workplace.
Identification of hazard is the typical process which is based on observation, experience, and
professional judgment. BHP has to hire a safety specialist to evaluate the work environment,
through the institutional logs, and report of employee compensation also other sources. The
safety specialist has to identify hazards with direct observation. Many models and techniques are
developed to identify and evaluate the exposure assessment. The identification and classification
of Hazard divided into three elements (driaens, 2018).
Workplace characterization
Information about hazards has to be obtained from the operations and other activities to
evaluate the agent that is utilized involving raw material, primary products, intermediates and

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reaction products. All these agents and material has to be evaluated by chemicals composition by
the specialist of BHP (driaens, 2018).
Exposure patterns
The major routes of exposure for and biological and chemical hazards are dermal uptake
and inhalation. The exposure patterns depend on contact with the hazard and exposure time. The
task which employees perform has to be systematically examined. It is essential for The BHP to
examine the overall task manuals that what going on at the workplace just because workers can
be directly exposed just because they perform the task daily. Also, they can be indirectly exposed
because they are located in the same operation area (driaens, 2018).
Qualitative hazard evaluation
Possible health hazards of chemicals, physical and biological agents at the workplace
have to be based on the evaluation of toxicological, clinical and environmental research. The
company has to create a material data sheet also has to update timely. The document has to
contain the information about % of hazardous ingredients, CAS number, TLV. Also types of
hazard, preventive action (driaens, 2018).
Dose-response assessment
The next step of assessment of exposure is to deals with the dose-response. With these
steps, BHP creates a relationship between the qualitative hazard and the probability of it.
Increasing dose impacts over many years of exposure are majorly relevant to chemical toxicants

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yet single event exposures are often primary concerns with the various agents (Collins,
2018).
Exposure Assessment
With the exposure assessment, the BHP has to evaluate the experience and skills of
workers who at the exposure risk. Also, the company has to evaluate to what extent workers are
present in the contact of various agents that create the hazards. If the hazard is identified and a
dose of hazard that causes the issues is determined the exposure assessment takes the place. The
BHP has to assess the exposure the agent cause the worker’s health and the amount the agent
such as chemicals that exist in air and environment and inhaled by the workers. There is the time
widow whom BHP has to take any necessary action as the exposure or dose is most relevant to
the development of symptom for particular symptoms or health-related problem. Hence the
exposure of agent or dose can be the exposure which occurs during that time. Hence care and
required action has to be taken when the company estimates the exposure on the base of injury
and exposure logs (Korres, 2018).
However, it is difficult for the company assesses the exposure as some biological
exposure at the certain point is difficult to identify, as the pattern of uptake, intake, elimination,
distribution is difficult to understand proper details. There is environmental monitoring and is the
techniques such as DNA-adducts which BHP can measure and assess the agents within the
workplace and determine exposure and other health risks (Korres, 2018).