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Permit-to-Work Systems as a Health and Safety Risk Control Strategy in Mining: A Prospective Study in Resilience Engineering

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Advances in Human Error, Reliability, Resilience, and Performance (AHFE 2017)

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Abstract

Mining is an important contributor to the social and economic fabric of our society. However, it is also considered to be one of the most dangerous industries. Compared to manufacturing, mining is generally regarded as a more complex industry to work in, creating additional challenges for policy makers, researchers and practitioners. This paper first discusses the state of mining health and safety in Australia, followed by an examination of some of the complexities that characterizes the industry. Next one contemporary approach, permit-to-work systems (PTW), is introduced, followed by a review of the literature relating to its use as a health and safety risk control strategy. This is followed by a discussion of Resilience engineering (RE) as an innovation in health and safety management, and a case made for investigating RE as a safety management strategy using PTW systems. The paper concludes by suggesting a pragmatism research framework and two organizational theories upon which such research can be advanced.

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Pillay, M., Tuck, M. (2018). Permit-to-Work Systems as a Health and Safety Risk Control Strategy in Mining: A Prospective Study in Resilience Engineering. In: Boring, R. (eds) Advances in Human Error, Reliability, Resilience, and Performance. AHFE 2017. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 589. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60645-3_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60645-3_14

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