FOLLOWING the strategic acquisition of a Canadian mining and exploration company in early 2011, Perilya has extended its focus beyond NSW’s iconic Broken Hill to explore international opportunities.

Perth-based Perilya was established in 1987, and has since assembled a diverse portfolio of base metal operations and exploration projects.

On top of the newly-acquired Cerro de Maimon mine in the Dominican Republic and the historic Broken Hill mine, Perilya is advancing the Flinders project in South Australia and the Mount Oxide project in Queensland. It also has extensive exploration programs under way in NSW (zinc, lead and silver), Queensland (copper, gold and zinc), Malaysia (copper and gold) and the Dominican Republic (copper, gold, silver and nickel laterite).

For the half year to June 2011, Perilya had a net profit after tax of $21.3 million, on the back of operating revenues of $167.8 million: an increase of 15 per cent and 32 per cent respectively on the previous corresponding period.
With a healthy balance sheet and low debt levels, Perilya stands in good stead to follow its strategic plan of investment in sustainable growth through ongoing exploration and further development.

Broken Hill

The Broken Hill mine was acquired by Perilya in 2002. As one of the world’s largest and most recognisable zinc, lead and silver mines, it has produced more than 200 million tonnes of ore during its 127 year history.

Along with the mine, Perilya also acquired well-developed infrastructure at Broken Hill with an inbuilt capacity and flexibility to operate at higher volumes and with a range of ore sources.

“Perilya has brought a new lease of life to the historic Broken Hill mine over the last nine years: increasing production and extending its life to more than 10 years based on existing reserves,” Perilya managing director and chief executive officer Paul Arndt said in a statement.

“By approaching opportunities with a fresh set of eyes, using innovative approaches to tap into the rich seam of past knowledge, and introducing new practices and technologies, we believe that we can unlock the considerable latent value at Broken Hill.”

Despite its extensive history, many areas of Broken Hill remain under-explored. Perilya manages 1042sqkm of terrain, including the mine leases, and is undertaking a plan to expand the operations through a three-pronged plan comprising the development of the Potosi Trend, assessment of the North mine and exploration within a 10km radius of the concentrator, in order to provide additional ore streams to fill spare concentrator capacity and create further development opportunities.

During the September quarter, Broken Hill experienced the highest production quarter in 18 months, with 31,100t of combined lead and zinc plus 355,000 ounces of silver. In addition, recoveries for all metals were above plan for the quarter.

The September quarter C1 cash costs (cash costs net of by-products) remained within annual guidance despite significant adverse impacts on cost, with the Australian dollar growing ever stronger and weakening by-product metal prices.

These September results were achieved despite head grades for both lead and zinc being below expectations. These were offset by over-budget mine production and over-budget recoveries (87.3 per cent for lead, 91.1 per cent for zinc and 73.8 per cent for silver), allowing the record production to be achieved.

Flinders

Perilya’s Flinders project, near Leigh Creek in South Australia, has the potential for high-grade zinc suitable for direct shipping ore (DSO).

With total mineral resources of 972,000t grading 29.8 per cent zinc metal, containing almost 300,000t zinc metal, Perilya believed the Flinders project could withstand a range of zinc prices due to its DSO potential.

The company previously mined the Beltana deposit during a 12-month open pit mining and on-site crushing program in 2007, with more than 100,000t of contained zinc stockpiled and exported.

The company is now undertaking exploration and feasibility studies into similar projects within the Flinders area, where the high-grade nature of the ore would remove the need for metallurgical processing and thereby allow for direct shipping.

A drilling schedule undertaken between late 2009 and April 2011 comprising 94 holes for 13,068m resulted in an estimated initial indicated resource of 214,000t grading 34.36 per cent zinc and 1.35 per cent lead for the North Moolooloo deposit.

“This is an exciting discovery as the deposit represents one of the highest-grade deposits discovered in the area to date and extends from near surface to a depth of approximately 150 metres,” Mr Arndt said.

“North Moolooloo is the second significant zinc silicate discovery by the company in the Flinders Ranges – the first being the Reliance discovery in 2001 – and follows the company’s highly successful open pit Beltana development, also in the Flinders region. The exciting thing with North Moolooloo is that preliminary work indicates that the ground conditions are very similar to the Beltana project, giving us a higher degree of confidence around the potential for an economic open pit mining operation.

“In light of these results, the company will carry out a scoping study into the potential mining of this resource whilst continuing to explore and seek to identify further resources in the Flinders region.”

Exploration during the September 2011 quarter focussed on testing copper sulphide and zinc silicate targets in the area of the former Mt Bayley copper mine. Minor copper mineralisation was intersected, and the results are being reviewed to determine if additional work in the area is warranted.

Diamond drilling was also initiated in the Emu prospect area along the prospective structure hosting both the Reliance and North Moolooloo deposits. Work will continue to test targets generated by hand-held x-ray fluorescence soil surveying, rock chip sampling and gravity datasets.

Mount Oxide

A feasibility study is currently under way at Perilya’s Mount Oxide copper project in the Mt Isa region of Queensland.

The project has a 2008 mineral resource estimate of 203,000t of contained copper, and Perilya reported that it viewed it as having considerable potential as a low-cost, near-term development operation, given the strong copper market.

Prior to 1958, the Mount Oxide mine, within Perilya’s project area, produced 51,000t of secondary copper ore grading 21 per copper from an underground operation. An additional, unknown quantity of ore was also mined from an open pit between 1968 and 1971.
During the September 2011 quarter, Perilya continued the feasibility study with soil, fauna and flora, and cultural heritage

surveys, and groundwater monitoring. Infrastructure studies on water and concentrate transport were progressed and a study of the current open pit water was undertaken to understand reagent regimes required to treat this highly-mineralised water.
Work undertaken to this time indicated that a hybrid open pit and underground mining configuration would be the most viable option for Mount Oxide.

Perilya anticipated that a development decision for the project would be made by the middle of 2012.

Cerro de Maimon

In late 2010, Perilya entered an agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Canada’s GlobeStar Mining. At C$1.65 per share, the deal valued GlobeStar at about C$184 million.

The deal was completed in January 2011, making Perilya the 100 per cent owner of the operating Cerro de Maimon mine (with a 1 per cent net smelter royalty held by original owner Falconbridge Dominicana).

Cerro de Maimon, in the municipality of Maimon in Monsenor Nouel Province, 70km northwest of the Dominican Republic’s capital Santo Domingo, had approximately 6 million tonnes of open pit copper-gold reserves calculated to NI 43-101 standards in 2007 by the previous owners.

Perilya believed there was potential to further expand this reserve base from satellite deposits in the surrounding tenements, acquired as part of the deal with GlobeStar.

Construction of the open pit mine, processing facilities and relevant infrastructure was completed in 2008.

Contractors undertake mining using a fleet of articulated trucks, rigid body trucks and hydraulic excavators. The mined ore is sent to the appropriate sulphide or oxide stockpiles and processed by two separate processing facilities. Copper is recovered from the sulphide ores with co-products gold and silver, while the oxide ore is treated to recover gold-silver dore.

During the September 2011 quarter, Perilya released an updated ore reserve and mineral resource, the first since the initial 2007 estimate.

It reflected three years of mining depletion, and showed that the oxide plant could be expected to run for a further four years and the sulphide plant for at least 10 more years.

The new estimates comprised: proven and probable sulphide ore reserves of 5.37mt grading 2.2 per cent copper, 0.85 grams per tonne gold and 27.6g/t gold; and proven and probable oxide ore reserves of 901,000t grading 1.58g/t gold and 26.9g/t silver.

The updated measured, indicated and inferred combined oxide and sulphide resources were 10.57mt grading 1.42 per cent copper, 0.8g/t gold, 23.7g/t silver and 0.99 per cent zinc.

“The exciting thing about these results is that they do not include the 2011 drilling program, which has confirmed massive sulphide mineralisation continuing outside of this updated resource, both along strike and down dip,” Mr Arndt said in a statement.

“As we drill deeper into the deposit we see an increase in the zinc grades from recent drilling, which supports the potential for both the establishment of a separate zinc circuit and the development of an underground mine to complement the open pit. These results are not included in the updated resource and reserve statement.

“Perilya expects to release a further resource update mid-2012, and anticipates completing its study as to the potential underground mine and the feasibility of establishing a separate zinc circuit by the end of 2012 or early 2013.

Miner fighting driver fatigue

AS one of the world’s leaders in base metal mining and exploration, Perilya has put the spotlight on driver fatigue at its iconic zinc, lead and silver mine in Broken Hill, with some intriguing results. Leading the way with fatigue management has been a major goal for Perilya. After some trial and error using systems that didn’t reflect the experience of mining operations, the company came across OPTALERT. Now, two months into a three-month trial, some interesting results have emerged.

The trial involved monitoring about 12 drivers, to allow Perilya to gather hard data to indicate that its drivers were not suffering from fatigue and to assess whether the drivers’ rosters were suitable.

“The feedback from the drivers has been very positive towards the technology,” Perilya safety and emergency services superintendent Tony Edwards said.

“Interestingly we find the drivers regularly discussing how many alarms they have had and comparing experiences after their shift. They use terms like ‘operating in the green’ with each other. Overall they are just more aware of their behaviour in the cab and of their fatigue levels.”

The OPTALERT Fatigue Risk Profiler system is the only real-time driver safety system in the world that detects the early onset of drowsiness during a journey by accurately measuring a person’s level of alertness. OPTALERT technology works through tiny invisible light emitters and receivers built into the frame of the patented OPTALERT Driving Glasses, measuring the velocity of the driver’s eyelid 500 times per second. An alarm is sounded up to 30 minutes prior to sleepiness characteristics setting in. The technology is a culmination of more than 15 years of research into the physiology of drowsiness by OPTALERT founder and chief scientist Dr Murray Johns, whose system has allowed a ‘next generation’ approach to the very human problem of fatigue control.

“Well-being and health monitoring is a big part of our strategy as a company. Fatigue management forms part of this initiative,” Mr Edwards said.

“Our main aim for using the OPTALERT technology is to look after our people. The financial gains will be realised as more time goes on, but at the end of the day if we look after our people, they will look after the business.

“The next step for Perilya is to work with OPTALERT on creating a mobile device that will enable the technology to monitor fatigue in a wider range of occupations such as service personnel, mill operators, remote control operators and security staff.”

Australian Mining Review Issue 47 January 2012.

Safety is a clear focus for the Papua New Guinean Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) mine site, the nation’s largest company. Managing director, Nigel Parker, has spent the last 30 years of his career working outside of his home country of Australia and the past five with Ok Tedi, which opened in 1981.

“Ok Tedi is the most complex business I have been involved in, yet this is what makes it so unique and special to me,” says Nigel. “Complexity is one of its greatest strengths, and it means that every day is a different day.”

Papua New Guinea’s challenging landscape, its remoteness, and the fact it sees approximately 11 metres of rain each year makes safety a very real concern for the mine.

“The footprint of Ok Tedi is quite extraordinary – it spans from the mining town of Tabubil, which is Ok Tedi’s home base, to mines 20 kilometres north of here. It covers 150 kilometres of road logistics, from Tabubil down to the river port in Kiunga.”

The company also barge their products along 800 river kilometres to the ocean. “There is also Port Moresby and Brisbane representation to manage,” adds Nigel.

Responsible for a workforce of some 5,000 people employed directly or indirectly by Ok Tedi, Nigel says the mine is extremely important to the local community, with an estimated 200,000 locals benefiting from it’s activities.

“The whole province lives off Ok Tedi and we are a major contributor to the economy of PNG, being its largest company as well as making up 18 per cent of its GDP and 30 per cent of its export earnings. We are a significant company for the country, yet we have some very specific safety challenges.”

Of those safety challenges, Nigel cites the rugged and narrow roads leading up and down the mountain, extreme weather conditions, such as fog and low-lying clouds, and the sheer size of the mine pit itself.

“Driver fatigue is a major issue. The linehaul trip, although only 150 kilometres, is very challenging as the road drops from 1,500 metres above sea level down to about one metre at the port town,” says Nigel.

In measures to reduce these safety risks, Ok Tedi has become the first company in Papua New Guinea to implement the Optalert Alertness Monitoring System. An Australian company that works with organisations to combat driver fatigue as a preventative measure, Optalert have delivered their system across the Ok Tedi bus and truck fleet. The bus fleet in particular is a safety concern for the mine, with each of the eight buses carrying up to 57 passengers to and from the mine every day.

“Last year we had a number of incidents where the drivers were fatigued and dozing off. These are very high mountains here and we can’t afford to risk a bus going over the edge,” adds Nigel.
In recent times, Ok Tedi has also looked to upgrade its fleet of prime movers to combat fatigue issues, and has seen mixed results. Upgrading their aging ‘grunt machines’ with manual gearboxes and dust-filled cabins, to a fleet of brand new auto electric Volvos, has ironically added all new fatigue challenges.

“Originally we felt these 20-year-old trucks were a contributor to driver fatigue so we went through a costly process of buying Volvos that were air-conditioned and had ergonomic seats. Now we find that these trucks are actually too easy to drive and operators are dozing off as a result – it is a different style of fatigue that is setting in.”

Following three recent major accidents – thankfully without any fatalities – Nigel says they are now reviewing the options of going back to the heavier grunt machines as part of fatigue and cost-management strategy.

“We have also looked to Optalert as a tool to help management and our drivers to better measure the state of alertness during a shift, and to record valuable data.”

Nigel points at that there are, however, some psychological challenges with Papua New Guinean drivers around the new technology, which works through tiny invisible light emitters and receivers built into the frame of Optalerts patented driving glasses. These measure the velocity of the driver’s eyelid 500 times per second and an alarm will then sound up to 30 minutes prior to sleepiness characteristics setting in. “Our drivers are simply not used to wearing glasses of any type while driving. This has been a challenge that I feel we are now starting to overcome with solid education.

“Then there is the intangible fear that someone is ‘watching’ while they are driving. And their worry over what repercussions they might face when they do show signs of drowsiness and receive warnings. We have taken great steps to make sure they understand that we as a company will never penalise someone for receiving an alert. Optalert is simply an alertness measure for their own safety.”

Nigel says his personal policy with the drivers has been to reiterate that they have total and absolute control over the vehicle. “I often tell our drivers that they are the captain of their truck. When the system is telling them that they are reaching levels of fatigue, then they have every right to pull over, have a walk around, kick the tyres etc.”

It is not only the safety of the individual that is paramount to Ok Tedi, Nigel explains, but also the extended family to which each of the company’s drivers is a lifeline providing income to potentially dozens.

“Everything that we do is because we want to support the drivers. We also have to be very considerate of our local communities here. An accident could cause the driver and the company serious social repercussions. We always ensure we do our utmost to protect our communities because Tabubil is their land and they are our landlords.” Having reached the 30-day mark with Optalert, Nigel says he is pleased with the results he has seen so far.

“The reports we have received are encouraging, as the drivers are starting to see that they do have control over their vehicles.

Moving forward, I’m sure we will see the full benefits as the drivers accept Optalert as a tool for their own safety.

We are the first to use it in Papua New Guinea. This is the premium company here by a long way and it is now 100 per cent owned to the benefit of the PNG people.”
This year marks the 30th year of corporate presence at Tabubil, with the Ok Tedi mine in operation for 26 years.

“This company is very important to the community. We are here for the long haul and we will not cut corners when it comes to our occupational health and safety,” says Nigel.

“I am really passionate about what I do; I couldn’t be here if I wasn’t. I am intensely interested in this company and its people. I am intensely grateful for the opportunities I have enjoyed in my own life – now I feel that being able to give something back is critical.”

Safety is a clear focus for this mature mine site, which opened in 1981. Ok Tedi Managing Director, Nigel Parker, describes the business as complex yet rewarding.

“Ok Tedi is the most complex business I have been involved in,” said Nigel, “yet this complexity is one of its greatest strengths.”

The challenging landscape, Papua New Guinea’s remoteness, coupled with 11 metres of rain each year makes safety a very real concern.

“The foot print of Ok Tedi is quite extraordinary – It spans from the mining town of Tabubil, which is Ok Tedi’s own town, to the mines 20 kilometres north of here and covers 150 km of road logistics from Tabubil down to our river port in Kiunga. Then we have 800 river kilometers of barging our product down to the ocean and discharging onto our silo vessels from where we load export vessels.”

Responsible for a workforce of some 5000 people who either work directly or indirectly for Ok Tedi, Nigel adds the mine is extremely important to the local community, with an estimated 200,000 locals benefiting from its activities.

“The whole province lives off Ok Tedi and we are a major contributor to the economy of PNG, being its largest company and making up 18 per cent of its GDP and 30 per cent of its export earnings. We are a significant company for this country, yet we have some very specific safety challenges.”

Of those safety challenges, Nigel sights the rugged and narrow roads leading up and down the mountain, extreme weather conditions such as fog and low lying clouds, and the sheer size of the mine pit itself.

“Driver fatigue is a major issue. The linehaul trip, although only 150km, is very challenging as the road drops from 1500 metres above sea level down to about one metre at the port town. It is a very steep road and every day is a different day on that road because of the weather and the amount of traffic. That is why we looked to Optalert to help manage our fatigue problem.”

Optalert technology works through tiny invisible light emitters and receivers built into the frame of the patented OPTALERT Driving Glasses, measuring the velocity of the driver’s eyelid 500 times per second. An alarm is sounded up to 30 minutes prior to sleepiness characteristics setting in.

The technology is a culmination of more than 15 years of research into the physiology of drowsiness by Optalert founder and Chief Scientist, Melbourne- based Dr Murray Johns, whose system has allowed a next generation approach to the very human problem of fatigue control.

To date, the Optalert Fatigue Risk Profiler system is the only real-time driver safety system in the world that detects the early onset of drowsiness during a journey by accurately measuring a person’s level of alertness.

The system gives drivers information about their levels of alertness; well in advance of drowsiness actually taking effect. The reading fluctuates through the course of the shift and is displayed on the dash board as a 0 to 10 score. This score is then reported to the control room.

Optalert has rolled out across the Ok Tedi during August 2011, with the bus fleet flagged as a particular safety concern for the mine as each vehicle carries up to 57 passengers on each of its eight busses to and from the mine every day.

“Last year we had a number of incidents where the drivers were fatigued and were dozing off. These are very high mountains here and we can’t afford a bus to go over the edge,” added Nigel.
“We have had three major accidents recently, thankfully without any fatalities. Each accident has been a large financial and logistical burden. We have looked to Optalert as a tool to help management and our drivers to better measure the state of alertness during a shift and record valuable data.

“There are, however, some psychological challenges with our Papua New Guinean drivers around the implementation of such a high level of technology and of course overcoming the fear factor is a challenge,” adds Nigel.

“Our drivers are simply not used to wearing glasses of any type while driving. That has been a challenge that I feel we are now starting to overcome with solid education.

“Then there is the intangible fear that someone is ‘watching’ while they are driving. And their worry over what repercussions they might face when they do show signs of drowsiness and get warnings. We have taken great steps to make sure they understand that we as a company will never penalise someone for receiving an alert. Optalert is simply an alertness measure for their own safety.”

Nigel adds that it is not only the safety of the individual that is paramount to Ok Tedi, but also his extended family to which each driver is a life line providing income to potentially dozens of family members.

“We also have to be very considerate of our local communities here. Should one of drivers hurt a community member, a child or even a champion- hunting dog, this accident would cause the driver and the company serious social repercussions.

“We always ensure we do our utmost to protect our communities because it is they who provide us the licence to be here and mine. Tabubil is their land and they are very much a part of our safety procedures.”

Nigel says he is pleased with the results he has seen so far with Optalert.

“We really want the drivers to accept Optalert as a tool for their own safety and one that can predict fatigue. The reports we have received are encouraging and moving forward as the drivers start to see that they do have control over the vehicle I’m sure we will see the full benefits.

“Fortunately we haven’t had any fatigue related fatalities, but we are choosing to step in with mitigating strategies to prevent any accidents. Optalert is one of those mitigating strategies.
“Everything that we do, including strategies like Optalert, is because we want to support the drivers. It is an exciting adventure for us with this technology. We are the first to use it in Papua New Guinea.”

2011 marks the thirtieth year of corporate presence at Tabubil, with the Ok Tedi mine in operation for 26 years. Ok Tedi says it will extend the mine for anywhere between another seven and 20 years.

“We are here for the long-haul and we will not cut corners when it comes to our occupational health and safety,” adds Nigel.

A dedicated in-house Product Development team ensures OPTALERT is continuously releasing new products and enhancing existing ones.

OPTALERT’s role as an industry innovator in fatigue management technologies has stemmed from decades of scientific research and  product development, but Product Development and Operations Manager, Rob Chapman, says continuing to stay ahead and bring new innovations to market is very much a team effort.

And according to Chapman, whose responsibilities include all product improvements from innovation, enhancements to manufacturing and general product upkeep, the sky is the limit when it comes to the OPTALERT technology.

The Product Development team also includes a further six staff members who work solely on improving the OPTALERT products and functionality.

Among those is OPTALERT Senior Scientist, Dr Andrew Tucker and Scientist, Christopher Hocking who were instrumental in the creation of the drowsiness detection algorithm which forms the basis for the OPTALERT technology, and continues to lead the way in the refinement and development of its applications.

Chapman says that despite the rapid advances the company has made in both hardware and software, the entire organisation is keeping an eye firmly focused on the future.

“Our challenge continues to be in understanding the direction in which the broader mining and road transport industries’ needs are going,” he says.

“We need to ensure the work we’re doing in Product Development is anticipating that evolution of needs and planning for it,” he adds, pointing to the enormous time, research and testing that goes into any advancement before customers even see it.

“In the past couple of years, we have taken the OPTALERT product to the next level by developing enhancements which have addressed some key areas for improvement outlined by our customers, most notably the way in which we display visual information back to the driver and to dispatch rooms,” he says.

Chapman believes it’s critical to the product development cycle to link technology advancements with the needs of customers:

“It’s important that we continue to identify new ways of improving the technology as well as the user interface, so that means listening to feedback and input from our customers and working to incorporate that into our product development cycle.”

Chapman says that while some of the innovations and refinements over the years have been obvious, such as the evolution of the OPTALERT Glasses, the introduction of the Dashboard Indicator and Fatigue Risk Profiler, plus the integration of new wireless technology to ensure OPTALERT’s compatibility with third party communication systems such as Modular Mining, other equally important advancements go unnoticed to the naked eye.

“We’ve made improvements in areas ranging from real-time data transfer to data security and clock synching which have been really important in ensuring the maximum effectiveness of the system for our customers,” he says.

“Quite often the technological improvements that customers wish to see in our products tomorrow are the exact same improvements that we’re already working on today,” he adds.

And while the research and development challenges provide a constant source of inspiration for Chapman and his team, it’s also the pride that comes from working with a socially responsible product that proves to be a key motivator:

“As the product continues to roll out across the world, and we positively impact the lives of OPTALERT users by helping them get home safely to their families, we look with pride at the amazing contribution our technology makes to society in general.”

For OPTALERT customer, BIS Industries Limited (BIS), Zero Harm is more than just a catch phrase – it’s a crucial part of business strategy.

Not only is BIS a leading provider of innovative support solutions to the resource sector, the steel sector and their related industries, they’re also recognised as a leader in the embracement of new technologies aimed at achieving a Zero Harm environment.

In addition to providing specialised services to primary industries within Australia, the company also has extensive experience in major infrastructure projects and related support activities.

BIS’s Director of OHS&E, Tim Gibson believes their positive reputation and success over many years has been fostered by a dedication to safety.

“Our commitment to Zero Harm and achieving the best occupational health, safety and environmental practices for employees, contractors, customers and communities is a key component of attracting and retaining the best people,” says Gibson, who’s work with BIS has included implementing a systematic risk management system for the organisation’s mining, coal and steel sectors across Australia.

His role also includes conceptualising, developing and implementing leading edge OHS and Workers Compensation (WC) policies, programs and systems to facilitate and support the achievement of a Zero Harm environment.

Gibson says BIS has been working with OPTALERT over the last four years, with the technology forming a critical part of the BIS Zero Harm Focus in terms of assisting with Fatigue Risk Management.

“The culture we are trying to develop is one of interdependence, with all employees empowered to make the necessary decisions to ensure their own safety as well as that of people around them.”

Gibson says at BIS, Zero Harm means zero injuries and zero environmental damage, adding that the company places great emphasis on encouraging a safety culture by setting clear goals, ensuring employees are skilled and trained and encouraging people at all levels to be leaders in safety.

“Every manager at BIS is accountable for achieving Zero Harm, and is expected to demonstrate leadership in creating a culture which actively promotes that as a key organisational policy,” he says. “We reinforce health and safety as a core value.”

A crucial part of that policy, according to Gibson, has been the adoption of the OPTALERT Alertness Monitoring System.

“The fact that this technology can give the driver live information on their own level of drowsiness and associated risk, means they are able to make decisions about managing their own fatigue before ‘microsleep’ has a chance to occur,” he says.

That is very much in line with BIS’s broader Zero Harm policies and philosophy, and it has seen the company work with OPTALERT to specifically develop technology which is suited to their on-road logistics operations.

Gibson sees the potential for expansion of the OPTALERT technology’s applications across the company’s mining, coal and steel sectors for both on and off road operations, adding that the integration into their operations over time has allowed them to fine tune the approach taken to engaging employees.

“Like all new technologies people take time to understand the value it can bring, but BIS employees have embraced the OPTALERT glasses and understand the introduction is entirely about their safety,” he says.

It’s an attitude which informs the company’s hiring policy, and is reflected in the attitudes of every employee.

“At the end of the day, we believe that workplace safety is everybody’s business, and all accidents, injuries and harm can be prevented,” Gibson says. “OPTALERT allows us to pursue that goal, and ensures we can offer the best possible tools to every employee so that they can own that objective also.”

The term risk is used a lot in today’s business environment. Risk is simply the chance of loss. As there are many different facets of business where loss may occur, there are many different types of risk: legal, reputational, operational, political and regulatory to name a few. Each type of risk may be calculated differently, but no matter how risk is determined, in the business world it can always translated into a dollar amount. This, of course, also includes safety risk.

In the occupational, health & safety world, the term risk is often confused with the term hazard. These are two very different yet closely related things. A hazard is a condition with the potential for loss. But a hazard requires exposure, or some sort of action to become a risk. A grizzly bear is a hazard, no argument. However, chance of loss (injury or death in this case) to a grizzly bear only occurs if there is exposure to the grizzly bear, or potential exposure to the grizzly bear. Otherwise, the grizzly bear is simply a hazard with no associated risk.

Safety risk is a straightforward equation:
RISK = HAZARD x EXPOSURE.

What are the hazards and what is the exposure? To quantify and prioritize safety risk in the workplace, safety professionals calculate severity and probability of potential loss. This is where the term worse case scenario comes from.
Before safety professionals can reduce or mitigate risk, they first need to identify and understand the elements of the equation. The “risk assessment” process first identifies all potential hazards as well as the exposure to those hazards. Then, using a matrix of severity and probability, risk can be quantified and prioritized. Only once this process is complete, they can look at how to reduce or mitigate risk by eliminating or decreasing the elements of the equation.

Risk assessments are not just for identifying and mitigating risk in new activities or projects. They are also regularly conducted to assess the effectiveness of current control measures within existing operations and work processes. Regular risk assessments can also identify shifts in hazards and exposures when operations, work processes or project scopes change. It also provides safety professionals with valuable information for continuous improvement in overall risk mitigation strategies.

There are 5 basic strategies to reduce the elements of the equation and mitigate the resulting risk. The first three, Elimination, Substitution and Engineering Controls, primarily address the hazard element of the equation. The last two, Administrative Controls and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), primarily address the exposure element of the equation.

In today’s work environments safety risk can be considerable and complex. Thus, overall risk mitigation can use strategies in isolation or layered with one another. In terms of effectiveness, safety professionals approach risk mitigation in the following order:

Elimination or Avoidance:

Can the hazard simply be eliminated altogether? The best way to mitigate the exposure to any hazard is to completely remove it or totally avoid it. If this is accomplished, exposure to the hazard is zero, eliminating that element of the equation and resulting in a risk of zero.

Substitution:

Can the hazard be replaced with something non-hazardous or less hazardous? This is a very straightforward risk mitigation strategy and is most effective in the planning stages of a job or project. For example, could a noisy machine be replaced with a quiet machine? Is there an option to use less hazardous chemicals to do the same job?

Engineering Controls:

If elimination or substitution of hazards is not possible, the next step is to introduce engineering controls to remove hazards or place barriers between the worker and the hazards. For example, a bicycle has a moving chain & gears. The hazard is our pant-leg getting caught in these moving parts resulting in injury. This hazard is greatly reduced by installing a barrier; in this case a chain guard. Almost any type of fixed guard or shield protecting us from moving parts, heat sources or noise is an engineering control. Generally, anything that is automated is considered an engineering control, as fewer workers are potentially exposed to hazards. Engineering controls are very effective because they address hazards at the source. They are also relatively inexpensive in the design phase of a job or project, but can be much more expensive when implementing within existing operations or work processes.

Administrative Controls:

If a hazard cannot be eliminated, substituted or engineered out, there are administrative controls. Administrative controls are changes in work procedures such as written safety policies, rules, supervision, schedules and training. The objective of administrative controls is to reduce the duration, frequency and severity of exposure to hazards. These controls are inexpensive and relatively easy to implement in the short-term. In the long-term for a business, administrative controls can become resource intense and expensive. Administrative controls however rely heavily on human behaviour, which sometimes can be unpredictable. For example, workers are given time off to recover, rest and sleep between shifts. However, the employer has no control over exactly what the worker does between shifts. If the worker elects not to rest or sleep, or consume too much alcohol between shifts, the administrative control (scheduling) becomes less effective.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):

When exposure to hazards cannot be eliminated, substituted or engineered out, and administrative controls cannot provide sufficient additional protection, a supplementary control is the use of PPE. PPE is the least effective control because it places only a barrier between the worker and the hazard. The hazard still exists; so if the right PPE is not worn properly or when it is needed, or the PPE fails (for example, glove leaks), the worker is not protected. Examples of PPE include gloves, safety glasses, hardhats, steel-toed boots and coveralls. It is the last line of defence.

There is another element that can dramatically impact the risk equation: culture. Companies that have deeply-engrained cultures, where management are truly committed to their people as well as quality, health, safety & environment, can dramatically impact their risk position. This commitment by management must be genuine to be effective. Companies that achieve this type of culture have employees at all levels of the organisation that believe and commit to the company and safety. As a result, risk mitigation strategies such as administrative controls become that much more effective as the employees ensure implementation and adherence.

Attaining such culture is very difficult and the exception to the norm. It requires committed management and leadership by example at all levels of the organisation. Interestingly, the few companies that do reach this level of culture tend to have less safety professionals within the organisation. This is because employees at every level of the organisation take on safety as integral to his or her job and not just as an additional component of their job.

Driving:

The number one identified risk in the oil & gas sector world-wide is driving. Even with all of the worse case scenarios possible in the industry, once a risk matrix of severity and probability is applied, driving remains the riskiest activity. A major contributing factor of motor vehicle incidents is operator fatigue or drowsiness.

Until now it has been very difficult to pinpoint the exact percentage of motor vehicle incidents caused by operator fatigue or drowsiness. This is because there has never been an objective measurement indicating how alert an operator was at the time of the incident. Unlike drugs or alcohol, which can be objectively measured post-incident, an operator who was drowsy or even asleep can show little or no signs of fatigue or drowsiness post-incident. There simply has not been a “thermometer” that can measure and record how alert an operator is.

There are many indirect indicators that point to operator fatigue or drowsiness as a contributing factor to an incident. These indicators have given safety professionals a better understanding of how severe operator fatigue or drowsiness is when driving. In essence, safety professionals know that operator fatigue or drowsiness is a significant problem, they just have not been able to quantify the problem.

Canadian 2009 statistics show that over 30% of all motor vehicle incidents on public roads may have been operator fatigue or drowsiness as a contributing factor. The percentage is higher for commercial motor vehicle incidents. However, the true percentages are most likely even higher. Investigators are unable to definitively measure and thus determine if an operator was drowsy or sleeping post-incident. In addition, operators in post-incident interviews tend not to disclose their state of fatigue or drowsiness for fear of further repercussions.

Another consideration is the nature of heavy industry off public roads. With the greater demand placed on company performance and thus operator efficiency, the risk of operator fatigue or drowsiness is most likely even higher than public road statistics. As an example, a prominent global mining company’s internal statistics puts operator fatigue or drowsiness as a direct factor in heavy-haul mine truck incidents at about 60%.

OPTALERT & The Risk Equation.

OPTALERT’s technology presents safety professionals with a totally new alternative to reducing the risk equation. Due to the nature of operator fatigue or drowsiness, it is a hazard that can be eliminated or substituted in today’s demanding workplace. Furthermore, operators in driving positions or conducting vigilant tasks are not soon to be engineered out by automation. Thus, the element of the equation to reduce operator fatigue or drowsiness is exposure. Mitigating exposure is exactly the element of the equation that OPTALERT’s technology presents to safety professionals.

The true innovation of OPTALERT is the development of an objective measurement scale that indicates an individual’s alertness. More importantly, the scale is directly correlated to a risk profile similar to a risk profile correlated with blood alcohol levels. They are not the same correlation, but both are objective and quantitative. The scale, JDS (Johns’ Drowsiness Scale), presents safety professionals with quantitative data that can mitigate risk on three levels. The first two dramatically reduce the exposure element of the risk equation.

The ability to provide operators with a visual, continuous and objective JDS score directly impacts their behaviour. This provides frontline risk mitigation to the exposure of operator fatigue or drowsiness. As an operator sees all other continuous measurements in a vehicle, such as speed, pressure and temperature, they adjust their actions to ensure that those metrics remain within acceptable levels. By presenting an operator with their JDS score continuously, the operator can adjust their behaviour to ensure their alertness level remains within acceptable risk levels while operating. This ability has never existed before.

The next level of mitigating exposure to operator fatigue or drowsiness is the ability to real-time JDS data and corresponding risk levels to control rooms or equivalents. By presenting real-time risk profiles of individual operators as well as entire fleets, supervisors can take suitable administrative measures when risk levels move towards or enter unacceptable levels. This once again reduces the exposure of operator fatigue or drowsiness within the risk equation.

All of this objective and quantitative data for alertness levels also presents safety professionals with the ability to further analyse their operations and work processes. Just as the continuous real-time data will reduce exposure to operator fatigue or drowsiness on the frontlines, thorough monitoring of data will enable better design of fatigue management strategies, as well as better continuous improvement of existing operations and work processes.

The equation for safety risk does not change with the introduction of OPTALERT. However, the ability for safety professionals to reduce the exposure element of the safety risk equation has dramatically changed forever. Operator fatigue and/or drowsiness risk mitigation will never be the same.

Rich Robillard is the President of Canadian based Integrated Risk Management Inc and has been a safety professional for over 12 years in the energy industry. Integrated Risk Management specialises on worker “fitness for duty”, assessing and mitigating the safety hazards and business risks associated to drugs, alcohol & fatigue in the workplace.

OPTALERT is making strong inroads into the Canadian market, with national distribution partner, Integrated Risk Management reporting an enthusiastic response to the opportunities presented by the technology.

The company’s President, Rich Robillard says the response to the new technology has been overwhelmingly positive, with an enormous interest in the opportunity presented by OPTALERT for risk management.

InterSystems Corporation, a global software leader headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, today announced OPTALERT the winner of their 2011 Innovator Awards.

The prestigious annual awards competition, which draws submission from software developers and integration specialists worldwide, recognises those who use InterSystems technologies in new ways to create innovative applications and integration solutions.

OPTALERT received the first-place Innovator Awards for its OPTALERT FATIGUE RISK PROFILER. In doing so OPTALERT beat multiple entries from 15 countries including 2nd placed Credit Suisse from USA and 3rd placed Mater Health Services from Brisbane, Australia.

“We are excited to see how our customers are using InterSystems’ advanced software technologies to create breakthrough applications, and we appreciate the opportunity to honour these game-changing solutions with our Innovator Awards,” said Paul Grabscheid, InterSystems Vice President of Strategic Planning.

“Thank you to InterSystems for hosting such an award and creating an award platform upon which opportunities for international professional recognition like this becomes possible,” said Raymond Lee, OPTALERT Marketing Manager.

“The USD $10,000 cash prize is an outstanding reward and I congratulate InterSystems on making avaliable such a large incentive for organisations to enter and win,” added Lee.

For more information about the InterSystems Innovator Awards please click here.

For newly appointed OPTALERT Account Manager, Lisa Du, a background in Human Resources (HR) and a grounding in the administrative side of the business have enabled her to develop an intimate understanding of the company, its customers and its people from the ground up.

But she says it was the knowledge, passion and enthusiasm of the entire organisation that fostered her desire to rise through the ranks to now lead the company’s Customer Support team.

“I initially joined OPTALERT in an administrative and HR role, which entailed being organised and efficient while also coming to understand the business, its people and its processes intimately,” she says.

“As I learnt more about the company though, I quickly developed a personal passion for what it is that we actually do.”

“I was really inspired – I wanted to be more involved and contribute to the success of the organisation,” she says.

And while Lisa’s background in HR has enabled her to bring a strong understanding of people and processes to the more customer-focused role she has now taken on, she acknowledges that the learning curve in terms of the actual technological side was still a steep one.

“Our Customer Support team plays a significant role in ensuring the successful implementation and delivery of the OPTALERT ALERTNESS MONITORING SYSTEM and FATIGUE RISK PROFILER,” she says.

“That requires an integral understanding of all the considerations and circumstances that apply to individual situations and clients, as well as the science behind the OPTALERT technology.”

“I have already seen and learnt so much in my role, and the ability to work closely with my colleagues in a small team and among people who are specialists in their field of expertise means I am learning more every day,” she adds.

According to Lisa, her background in HR has imbued her with sense of the true value of a positive, can-do attitude and a genuine care for the customer – being willing to go the extra mile to ensure a great outcome.

OPTALERT Chief Executive Officer, John Prendergast says it is those traits that have seen Lisa rise quickly through the ranks to become one of the company’s ‘leading lights’.

“Like any progressive company, we place high value on our people bringing a passion for the product to every aspect of the business,” he says.

“Lisa’s genuine enthusiasm for the OPTALERT technology, and the difference it can make for our customers in increasing productivity, mitigating risk and saving lives, makes her an ideal ambassador for our product and messages.”

“As an Account Manager and team leader, she brings a tenacity, passion and positivity to every interaction, be it internal or with our customers around the world.”

On that point, Lisa says her role with OPTALERT continues to offer great satisfaction as “a real eye opener and great life experience.”

“The range of customers that we deal with, and all the different places, professions and environments that I’ve been exposed to, make the role a constant challenge in terms of understanding how best to support each account,” she says.

There have been some great leaps forward in the past 10 years in safety systems and safety technology available to the trucking industry. The aim of the Safety Drive Day, organised by the Victorian Transport Association (VTA), was to improve the awareness of people involved in the industry – operators, regulators and other stakeholders – of the importance of safety.

The event was also an opportunity to showcase the kind of sophisticated safety technology that can be specified on heavy vehicles on our roads. Major truck manufacturers also demonstrated the efforts they have been making to improve the safety systems available in trucks and gave attendees a review of the future possibilities which will become available in trucks.

The event was divided into three sections. The static displays saw a wide variety of suppliers of trucks, training, safety systems and regulators showing their wares and taking the time to engage with visitors about all aspects of the subject of safety in the modern trucking industry. The demonstration area saw high-tech safety systems demonstrated in real-life situations on a number of different vehicles, as well as some of the latest high productivity vehicles that have hit the road.

Meanwhile, out on the track, five different truck manufacturers were taking a constant flow of visitors around the track in a variety of trucks demonstrating safety systems and giving visitors a taste of what these new systems can bring to the party, in terms of safety. Each manufacturer concentrated on a different area of expertise to enable the visitor to get a real hands-on feel of what modern high-tech trucking is all about.

PACCAR personnel driving around the test track were also demonstrating the OPTALERT anti fatigue system.

Read the full article at Prime Mover Magazine…

OPTALERT’s two most senior scientists will present research papers at the 8th International Conference on Managing Fatigue in Transportation, Resources and Health, to be held in Fremantle, Western Australia in late March.

Underscoring OPTALERT’s dedication to continuous improvement through an ongoing commitment to Research and Development, the respected scientists will individually deliver papers relating to the long term research they have undertaken into fatigue-related driver safety, which has formed the basis for the company’s unique technological point of difference.

An established and respected forum for research updates and discussion in the fatigue management community, the ‘Managing Fatigue’ conference series was first convened in 1992 and has most recently been held in Seattle and Boston.

Each conference has primarily focused on the effects of fatigue in the transportation sector, but that focus has also evolved over the years to encompass a wider arena including sectors such as Aviation, Maritime, Industrial, Resources and Health.

OPTALERT founder and now Chief Scientist, Dr Murray Johns (standing above right) will present a paper at the conference titled ‘Who is too drowsy to drive?’, while OPTALERT Senior Scientist, Dr Andrew Tucker (standing far left) will deliver a presentation on ‘Real-time monitoring of alertness in drivers of mine haulage trucks during routine operations.’

Dr Johns said it was a credit to OPTALERT’s innovative and progressive work in fatigue risk management and measurement that two scientists from the same business should be presenting at the conference.

“This is the pre-eminent conference in our field of work in the world, and presents a fantastic opportunity to showcase the cutting edge work we have been doing at OPTALERT for several years,” Dr Johns said.

“As we continue to make in-roads into the road transport industry around the world with OPTALERT’s alertness and fatigue risk profiling technology, and with our continued integration into the operations of some of the world’s leading mining companies, this represents another feather in our cap for the research team,” he said.

Dr Johns is a world authority on sleep medicine and has pioneered research in the field for more than 40 years. He developed the Epworth Sleepiness Scale which is now a world standard method for measuring a person’s general level of sleepiness in daily life.

He adds that while the OPTALERT scientific research team has been working across this field for many years, there is an increasing amount of independent scientific validation of the technology that continues to build momentum for its relevance and importance in both the mining and road transport industries.

Dr Johns and Dr Tucker will be in esteemed company at the conference, which sees speakers and delegates gather from around the world including industry leaders in fatigue management from the military, academic, road transport, mining and medical spheres.

According to Dr Tucker, one of the most rewarding parts about having the opportunity to present at the 2011 fatigue conference is the knowledge transfer and sharing that takes place among professionals who are working towards an important common goal – reducing the harm and error that can result from fatigue.

“We know that the work we are all doing is making a difference, and we’re confident that the technology that’s been developed and continues to be refined at OPTALERT has applications that relate to every industry that will be present at this conference,” he said.

“Our customers come from across industry and are serious about Workplace Health & Safety and are committed to a policy of ‘Zero Harm’.”

The 8th International Conference on Managing Fatigue in Transportation, Resources and Health will be held in Fremantle, Western Australia on 21-24 March, 2011.

Results of OPTALERT research and scientific validation has been widely published by both the OPTALERT research team and leading research institutions from around the world including:

• Division of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA.
• Monash University Accident Research Centre, Australia.
• Royal Australian Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine.