Moving from contractor to owner operator: Impact on safety culture; a case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a change in staffing contractual arrangements, specific training in hazard identification, mentoring of supervisors and the introduction of a robust safety system could improve an organisation\u27s safety culture. How safety conditions change under contracted out labour compared to direct labour and the influence that contracting out has on organisational safety culture is explored. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a case study methodology to detail how the change occurred over a six month period in 2011. As part of the analysis a model of the change process and push-pull factors is offered. Findings – As a result of the change, all areas saw some improvement. Work-related injury statistics dropped significantly, supervisors were clear of their roles, actively monitoring their crews to ensure they worked in a safer manner than before, and staff were actively addressing work-place hazards. With the safety system in place the organisation should be deemed compliant and diligent by the state auditing authorities. This study has also shown that using contractor workers together with in-house workers that are managed under different safety regimes is problematic. The problems don’t occur due to the contractor\u27s safety systems being less robust than the parent company\u27s or that contract workers are themselves less safe; it is the added complexity of managing multiple safety regimes and the lack of trust of the robustness of each system that create conflict. Research limitations/implications – The paper reports on the change process of one mining organisation in Western Australia as a case study from a managerial sample and is thereby limited. Practical implications – This study demonstrates the difficulties in changing safety culture in an underground mining organisation. The paper argues the need for specialised training in identifying hazards by the staff, the mentoring of supervisory staff and the adoption of a robust safety system to support improved safety culture. Originality/value – There is little research conducted in the resources sector researching changes in human resource supply and OHS management, in particular moving from contracted labour to hiring in-house. This case provides an insight into how a change in staffing hiring arrangements, together with specific safety initiatives, has a positive impact on safety performance

Hypogene Caves of Romania

Few caves exist in Romania that have provided clear evidences of their hypogene origin; these were described mainly in connection with investigations conducted on ore deposits or thermal water resources used in spas. Genetically, they are grouped in three categories: (1) caves related to upwelling of H2S-rich thermal waters along Cerna Valley (SW Romania) and around the town of Mangalia (SE Romania), (2) voids created in skarns and limestones during ascending flow of hot metasomatic and hydrothermal ore fluids (caves located mainly in the northern and western part of the country), and (3) mixing of salt and fresh water near the present Black Sea shore (e.g., Piatra Cave). Among all caves in these categories, Movile, a world-renowned biospeleological hot spot, the skarn-hosted caves from Băița, and Valea Rea, an underground mineralogical treasure, are the most representative

Thermal stability of the 'cave' mineral ardealite Ca2(HPO4)(SO4).4H2O

Thermogravimetry combined with evolved gas mass spectrometry has been used to characterise the mineral ardealite and to ascertain the thermal stability of this ‘cave’ mineral. The mineral ardealite Ca2(HPO4)(SO4)•4H2O is formed through the reaction of calcite with bat guano. The mineral shows disorder and the composition varies depending on the origin of the mineral. Thermal analysis shows that the mineral starts to decompose over the temperature range 100 to 150°C with some loss of water. The critical temperature for water loss is around 215°C and above this temperature the mineral structure is altered. It is concluded that the mineral starts to decompose at 125°C, with all waters of hydration being lost after 226°C. Some loss of sulphate occurs over a broad temperature range centred upon 565°C. The final decomposition temperature is 823°C with loss of the sulphate and phosphate anions

The Mineral Assemblage of Caves Within Şălitrari Mountain (Cerna Valley, SW Romania): Depositional Environment and Speleogenetic Implications

Eighteen minerals belonging to eight chemical groups were identified from three caves within Şălitrari Mountain, in the upper Cerna River basin (Romania) by means of scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, and X-ray powder diffraction. One passage in the Great Cave from Şălitrari Mountain, the largest cave investigated, exhibits abnormal relative humidity and temperature ranges, allowing for a particular depositional environment. The cave floor is covered by alluvial sediments (ranging from cobble, sand, and clay to silt-sized material), bear bones, bat guano, and rubble. These materials reacted with percolating meteoric water and hydrogen sulfide-rich hypogene hot solutions, precipitating a variety of secondary minerals. Most of these minerals are common in caves (e.g. calcite, gypsum, brushite), however, some of them (alunite, aluminite, and darapskite) require very particular environments in order to form and persist. Cave passage morphologies suggest a complex speleogenetic history that includes changes from phreatic to vadose conditions. The latter was punctuated by a sulfuric acid dissolution/precipitation phase, partly overprinted by present-day vadose processes. The cave morphology and the secondary minerals associated with the alluvial sediments in these caves are used to unravel the region’s speleogenetic history