HEALTH AND SAFETY AT RANGER AND OLYMPIC DAM
Both ERA and WMC Copper Uranium Division gave accounts of the health
and safety regimes which apply at their respective mines (S63, 40-49;
S 74, 56-77). In each instance these responsibilities are discharged both
in the context of heavy statutory and regulatory obligation and well-articulated
company policies and programs.
Ranger
In the case of Ranger, its proactive policy calls for a full investigation
and reporting of all incidents and near misses at the mine; setting of
key performance targets which are communicated to all employees and built
into Superintendent's and Manager's annual performance goals; reporting
of health and safety statistics to the workforce on a monthly basis or
as incidents occur; a strictly enforced system of penalties for infringements
and awards for safe work practices; continual training of employees in
safe work practices; ensuring that Ranger is meeting the latest international
standards for radiation protection; and continual benchmarking of the
Ranger operation against external standards, principally by the 5-Star
Health and Safety Management System of the National Safety Council of
Australia (S 63, 41).
Government responsibility for radiation safety at Ranger is shared by
the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services (dose
and medical records) and the Department of Mines and Energy (exposure
and control).
As a condition of its approval to operate, Ranger must comply with various
Commonwealth Codes of Practice. This effectively requires that Ranger
keep exposures below 20 mSv per year. As ERA state:
Radiation doses at Ranger have always been significantly below
the international standards. (S 63, 45)
Dr Leigh reported to the Committee:
I was provided with a copy of the ERA 1995 Radiation Protection
Monitoring Program Report for 1995 and all exposures were well within
the 20 mSv limit. The highest annual effective dose equivalent was 8.6
mSv in mill maintenance. (Leigh, 22)
Comparable figures for 1994 were an average of 4.9 mSv with the maximum
exposed individual receiving 18 mSv. "This maximum dose was higher
than in preceding years and was the result of the final stages of mining
in a relatively confined space within the bottom of the #1 pit" (S
85, 30).
It is clear that in the past decade, Ranger's performance in radiation
safety has improved considerably since the reports from the mid-1980s,
relied on by the Australian Conservation Foundation (S81, 14).
Ranger's inadequacies in the mid-1980s were also referred to in the Northern
Territory Government submission. It stated:
Subsequently, procedures were adopted by ERA which have led to
improvements in health and safety on the site.
Ranger now has an occupational health and safety record second to none.
It has held the maximum 5-star award from the National Safety Council
of Australia. It currently has a 4-star rating but is committed to achieving
the highest standards. (S 100, 26)
The Committee, on the basis of its investigation, considers that Ranger
has now achieved very high standards in health and safety and, whilst
these are maintained, it may be regarded as a benchmark for other mines.
Olympic Dam Operation
Likewise there is a comprehensive health and safety regime at Olympic
Dam encompassing a range of chronic and acute hazards in terms of, inter
alia, underground materials handling, hoisting and services; concentrator;
hydromet and solvent extraction plants; uranium and copper solvent exchange;
ammonia and diluent storage, yellowcake precipitator, calcination; tailings
handling; and the smelter.
The mine and mill operate on the basis of the ALARA principle, applied
as part of the initial design of the mine.
Monitoring for all three main pathways of radiation is extensive, employing,
where it is useful, T[hermo] L[uminescent] D[evices] badges supplied by
the Australian Radiation Laboratory and taking of measurements at various
locations for radon progeny and radioactive dust (S 74, 71).
Data included in the South Australian Government submission indicated
that throughout its history, doses, both mine average and maximum individual,
have been within the applicable limits. Indeed, since 1990-91 all doses
have been within the new limits (S 109, 17-9).
There is a similar result for plant workers.
The Australian Conservation Foundation did not offer an appraisal of
health and safety at Olympic Dam. It did claim that "[t]he use of
average occupational dose-limits hides the fact that a minority of workers
receive the majority of collective dosages" (S81, 14) but evidence
cited earlier indicates that at Ranger and Olympic Dam, both average and
maximum individual doses are within the 1991 ICRP standards.
The Conservation Council of South Australia/Friends of the Earth Nouveau
(CCSA/FoEN) criticised composition of radiological protection committees
(S 92, 23), a matter also raised by Friends of the Earth Sydney. The Committee
agrees that there is value, in constituting such committees, to include,
if possible, appropriately disinterested medical experts and also some
representation of the mine workforce.
The CCSA/FoEN were critical that in 1988-89 29 employees at Olympic Dam
had doses greater than 20 mSv per annum. None of the maximum doses in
question exceeded 30 mSv and, it might have been mentioned, since 1990-91
all readings have been within the new dose limits.