A Cluster of Mistrust: Safety in the Mining Industry

This article examines the relationship between mistrust, adversarial industrial relations and safety performance in 10 Australian coal mines, across three mining companies. Based on case study research and company safety data, the article identifies a 'cluster of characteristics' closely associated with the formation of mistrust, and examines the negative impact such characteristics can have on safety performance. The article considers the broader ramifications of these findings for non-mining sectors, in particular for companies with a corporate head office overseeing separate sites, and identifies ways of building trust

Workplace health and safety in the Australia coal mining industry: mistrust, management and regulation

Over the last 10 to 15 years, Australian coal mining companies have implemented sophisticated management systems designed to substantially improve workplace heath and safety (WHS). This has led to a distinctive WHS ‘architecture’ across the industry, and has coincided with steadily declining fatality and injury rates. In conjunction with these developments, government regulators have progressively modified the external regulatory framework. In particular, new forms of regulation have shifted away from prescription towards ‘management-based’ initiatives. The expectation is that companies will go ‘beyond compliance’ to achieve WHS improvements greater than that required by law. The combination of internal company WHS architecture and external managementbased regulation has coincided with substantial improvements in WHS outcomes across the Australian coal mining industry. Since the mid 1990s, fatalities have fallen substantially, along with other recorded injuries. However, in the last few years it appears that these earlier gains have not been sustained. Further, WHS outcomes vary widely between individual mine sites of the same company. Against this backdrop, the thesis addresses two overriding research questions. First, what factors have hindered the continued and consistent improvement in WHS outcomes across mine sites? Second, and from a normative perspective, what policies and strategies may be employed to overcome such factors? In answering these questions, the thesis addresses several inter-related themes, namely: the implementation of corporate-wide WHS management systems; the role of culture, especially mistrust, in influencing the operation of such internal WHS management systems; the role of mistrust in undermining the operation of external regulation, including management-based regulation; the tendency of WHS codes of practice to be used as a form of creeping prescription; and the competencies, capacities and enforcement strategies of WHS regulatory agencies. The thesis draws on interview-based fieldwork, desktop research and literature reviews competed between 2007 and 2012. Face-to-face interviews were conducted at three Australian coal-mining companies, as well as with regulatory officials across Australia and officials from national and state mining industry associations and trade unions. In addition, phone-based interviews were conducted with WHS management from over 20 metalliferous and coal mining companies. The thesis also draws on a range of safety statistics, both from the public domain and internal company records. Finally, interviews and statistical data were supplemented by reviews of both the domestic and international literature. The thesis’ findings suggest that WHS management systems may be, to a considerable extent, subservient to the culture into which they are received. And high levels of organisational mistrust, in particular, are more prevalent in those mine sites that appear to have resisted most strongly the imposition of corporate wide WHS management systems and standards. Beyond internal culture, the tools, behaviour and attitudes of mining inspectorates also influence WHS behaviour and outcomes. As such, the thesis considers how mining inspectorates should interact with mining companies in seeking to enforce WHS compliance, what inspectoral competencies, characteristics and behaviours should they possess, and what enforcement guidelines should they operate under. In this respect, the findings of the thesis may resonate beyond the Australian coal mining industry

Simulating electric vehicle policy in the Australian capital territory

Increased use of electric vehicles (EVs) has the potential to reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, predicting the impact of governments' EV incentive policies on the future uptake of EVs is important. This study estimates the impact of incentive policies introduced in the Australian Capital Territory. This estimation is conducted through constructing a microsimulation model and using it to assess the impact of the incentive policies on the purchase of EVs for households in different income quintiles. In the model, the decision about purchasing an EV is based largely on the total cost of ownership of an EV compared to the vehicle already owned and the additional utility of having a new vehicle. The application of the model shows that, regardless of incentives, a drop in the price of EVs will play the most important role in uptake. Incentives will help lower to middle income households, although EV demand is dominated by those in the highest income quintile. Importantly, however, incentives can increase uptake in locations with previously low uptake. Future work needs to focus on the reliability of data on EV's, and how to incorporate the rapid change in the market (eg, rapid uptake of EV's in the ACT) seen in the last few years

Ban on toxic mercury looms in sugar cane farming, but Australia still has a way to go

This month, federal authorities finally announced an upcoming ban on mercury-containing pesticide in Australia. We are one of the last countries in the world to do so, despite overwhelming evidence over more than 60 years that mercury use as fungicide in agriculture is dangerous

Leaders & laggards: next-generation environmental regulation

- Divulgação dos SUMÁRIOS das obras recentemente incorporadas ao acervo da Biblioteca Ministro Oscar Saraiva do STJ. Em respeito à Lei de Direitos Autorais, não disponibilizamos a obra na íntegra.- Localização na estante: 347.7:504 G976

Strain sensing characteristics of 3D‐printed conductive plastics

Three types of commercially available conductive three-dimensional (3D) printing filament are electrically characterised for use in 3D-printed functional devices. The three plastics were carbon dispersed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, carbon dispersed polylactic acid (PLA) and graphene dispersed PLA. The method of 3D printing used was material extrusion and prints were made in both single and dual extrusion modes. The plastics were found to be piezoresistive, enabling them to be characterised as strain sensors. The electrical characteristics of these materials enabled the measurement of strain using low cost, readily available prototyping equipment and minimising the requirement for dedicated instrumentation components (e.g. Wheatstone bridges). Increasing the thickness of the plastics improved conductivity. However, this also decreased the reliability and reproducibility of strain sensor data due to a complex internal 3D structure. The recommendation for reliable use in prototyping and manufacturing is to print tracking under 0.8 mm thickness, thus producing resistance measurements that are predictable and follow a linear regression up to R2 = 0.9991. A dual extruded 3D print was fabricated as a final demonstration. A force sensing resistor interface was created. The final demonstration uses a PIC18F45K20 microcontroller to process sensor inputs, outputting to an alphanumeric LCD

Strain sensing characteristics of 3D‐printed conductive plastics

Three types of commercially available conductive three-dimensional (3D) printing filament are electrically characterised for use in 3D-printed functional devices. The three plastics were carbon dispersed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, carbon dispersed polylactic acid (PLA) and graphene dispersed PLA. The method of 3D printing used was material extrusion and prints were made in both single and dual extrusion modes. The plastics were found to be piezoresistive, enabling them to be characterised as strain sensors. The electrical characteristics of these materials enabled the measurement of strain using low cost, readily available prototyping equipment and minimising the requirement for dedicated instrumentation components (e.g. Wheatstone bridges). Increasing the thickness of the plastics improved conductivity. However, this also decreased the reliability and reproducibility of strain sensor data due to a complex internal 3D structure. The recommendation for reliable use in prototyping and manufacturing is to print tracking under 0.8 mm thickness, thus producing resistance measurements that are predictable and follow a linear regression up to R2 = 0.9991. A dual extruded 3D print was fabricated as a final demonstration. A force sensing resistor interface was created. The final demonstration uses a PIC18F45K20 microcontroller to process sensor inputs, outputting to an alphanumeric LCD

Conjunctive Management Through Collective Action

This chapter focuses on the interaction between conjunctive management and collective action. Collective action has several characteristics that provide a natural ‘fit’ with conjunctive management. These include building trust and ownership to enhance water user’s acceptance of the need for better and more integrated management and resolving conflict and facilitating trade-offs between and across water users. But what are the opportunities and challenges for conjunctive management through collective action? And what types of settings encourage broadbased collective action by water users and governments? These questions are addressed through a comparative analysis of specific instances of groundwater governance in Australia, Spain, and the western United States of America. For each case, the diverse policy and institutional settings are explained, and consideration given to the motivators for, and successes of, conjunctive management and collective action. The chapter draws comparisons across the cases to suggest lessons on incentives for conjunctive management, as well as exploring its challenges, before identifying future directions for more effective integrated water management.This research was partially funded by an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE140101216) and an ARC Linkage Grant (LP130100967)

2010-2011 General Meeting and Performance

https://spiral.lynn.edu/foc-events/1007/thumbnail.jp