Rio Tinto Case Study: Occupational Health Management of Hazards

This report examines the occupational health management practices at Rio Tinto, a leading mining corporation, with a specific focus on physical hazards such as noise pollution and dust. It investigates the manifestation of these hazards in the workplace, their potential harm to workers, and the populations most susceptible. The report highlights that noise pollution from mining equipment and dust from drilling, blasting, and ore processing pose significant risks to workers' health, leading to issues like noise-induced hearing loss and respiratory illnesses. It further discusses the regulatory framework in Australia, emphasizing the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, and evaluates the effectiveness of existing control measures implemented by Rio Tinto, such as hearing protection devices and dust suppression techniques. The report concludes by recommending improvements to hazard control strategies, including engineering controls, administrative controls, and the provision of high-quality personal protective equipment, to ensure a safer working environment and minimize the adverse health effects on Rio Tinto's employees. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

Running head: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT 1
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

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does expose the workers to respiratory illnesses if appropriate measures are not put into place.
The other employs were exposed to 0/02 mg/mg3 which means that they were not prevalent to
respiratory and other health effects (Occupational health, n.d). The reasons why there was
increased emission of dust is because there was an inadequate application of efficient work
practices that can reduce the production of dust as well as lack of enough water resources.
Workers can inhale the dust during mining and hence leading to respiratory illnesses or
lung failure (Chiluba, 2018). Inhalation of dust at the workplace can also result in temporary and
permanent disabilities and also deaths (Natural Resources, 2018). Dust can also penetrate the
skin after being wetted by sweat and hence leading to adverse health effects depending on the
chemical composition of the compounds. Dust in the workplace can also result from fire and
explosions causing harm and deaths to the workers. It may also result to damage in the
environment by contaminating the air and water sources leading to adverse health effects
(Hazard prevention and control in the work environment: Airborne dust, 2010).
In Australia, the work health and safety act 2011 aims at protecting the safety, health and
welfare of all the workers in the workplace. It also aims at protecting the health and safety of all
the people that may be affected by the work. According to the act, the person accorded with the
task of health and safety should ensure that he or she eliminates the risks to health and safety as
long as it is reasonably practicable (Work Health and Safety Act, 2011). In the event it is not
reasonably possible to eliminate the risks, the health and safety personnel should minimize the
risks to minimum levels. This means that the risks of physical hazards such as noise and dust
should be minimised to protect the workers. The act is also keen on identifying critical work-
related disorders such as noise-induced hearing loss. This is a result of increased severity of the
health effect on workers, increased number of affected workers and the availability of prevention

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options that can reduce the prevalence of the health effect once it is implemented. The act aims at
reducing the noise-induced hearing loss in the workplace, the injuries and incidences associated
with it by at least 20% by the year 2022 (Work Health and Safety Act, 2011).
The standards, codes of practice and guidance on dust in Australia includes ensuring that
the exposure of workers to dust is eliminated and minimized due to the latency of respiratory
illnesses. Secondly, it involves ensuring that all workers are given Personal protective equipment
to reduce exposure to dust. Lastly, the mine operators should ensure that have a documented
procedure of managing dust in the workplace and an effective monitoring program to help ensure
that the exposure to dust is at an acceptable level (Cooper, 2017). The mine operators should also
ensure that they monitor the workers to help identify those who are at high risk of getting
respiratory diseases from the emission of dust (Dorman, 2014).
The Rio Tinto company does give hearing-protection devices such as ear muffs, ear plugs
and other hearing protection devices to control the exposure to high levels of noise. In 2018, the
company focused on educating the workers on how to use the devices and the importance of
consistently using the tools. These measures are not very effective in protecting workers from
noise pollution. Measures such as engineering controls where the equipment is modified at the
source to reduce noise can help protect the workers from too much noise. Administrative
controls such as ensuring that people work in shifts especially where noise levels are high should
be applied. This will ensure that fewer people are exposed and also reducing the amount of time
spends near noise sources (Cooper, 2017).
The Rio Tinto company has put in place some engineering control measures that are not
effective in reducing the production of dust. The company has also put in place measures such as

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the use of water to reduce the emission of dust which is also not useful in the reduction of
emission of gases. The company should ensure that they put much more effort into ensuring that
the employees regularly put on quality Personal protective equipment (Golinko, Yavorskaya,
Cheberyachko & Cheberyachko, 2015). The company can achieve this through education and
monitoring their uses as well as purchasing quality Personal protective equipment. The
employees should also work in shifts to ensure that the exposure to dust is minimized. They
should also try to redesign the mining equipment to help reduce the emission of dust (Hamilton,
2014).
In conclusion, physical hazards especially noise and dust are an emerging issue in
mining. The health effects of both dust and noise re adverse and hence they need to be eliminated
and controlled in the workplace. Although appropriate measures have been put into place to help
reduce in Rio Tinto, they are not effective enough in eliminating and controlling the hazards. The
company should ensure that people have quality personal protective equipment. They should also
implement engineering controls such as redesigning the tools. They should also implement
administrative controls such as adequate training of the workers and ensuring that the workers
work in shifts to reduce the time of exposure to dust and noise.

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References
Chiluba, B. (2018). Critical Review of Dust in the Mining Environment: A Focus on Workers
and Community Health. doi:10.20944/preprints201811.0602.v1
Cooper, S. (2017, March 29). Noise. Retrieved from https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/noise
Dobie, R. (2018). Noise-induced hearing loss. Oxford Medicine Online.
doi:10.1093/med/9780198834281.003.0099
Dorman, R. (2014). Air Pollution. Dust Control and Air Cleaning, 551-578. doi:10.1016/b978-0-
08-016750-3.50022-5
Golinko, V. I., Yavorskaya, E. A., Cheberyachko, Y. I., & Cheberyachko, S. I. (2015). Analysis
of protective value of dust-fighting respirators and its effect on dust burden of
miners. Gornyi Zhurnal, 76-80. doi:10.17580/gzh.2016.03.16
Hamilton, R. (2014). Dust Control In The Mining Industry. Dust Control and Air Cleaning, 531-
550. doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-016750-3.50021-3
Hazard prevention and control in the work environment: Airborne dust. (2010, December 09).
Retrieved from https://www.who.int/occupational_health/publications/airdust/en/
Natural Resources, M. A. (2018, September 28). Measurement of dust levels. Retrieved from
https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/mining-energy-water/resources/safety-
health/mining/hazards/dust/measurement
Occupational health. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rossing.com/health_management.htm

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Pereira, N. C. (2014). Introduction to Noise Pollution. Air and Noise Pollution Control, 393-410.
doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-6236-7_9
Simion, S., Vreme, C., Kovacs, M., & Toth, L. (2013). Exposure of Workers to Noise in Mining
Industry. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 430, 281-284.
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.430.281
Work Health and Safety Act 2011. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2011-018#sec.33