No abstract

With increasing social pressures over the past two decades, mining companies have become more concerned with occupational health and safety (OHS). This change in mentality has had an impact on the choice of new equipment introduced underground. Introduction of innovative mining equipment must now meet the double challenge of improving both productivity and OHS. However, innovative equipment does not by itself ensure success. The aim of this study is to identify the key factors that underlie successful introduction of new equipment in underground mines. We used a multi-attribute decision-aid tool, namely the dominance-based rough-set approach. Ten innovative equipment projects carried out in an underground mine in Quebec were analysed. The tool allowed simultaneous identification of the most relevant factors and critical thresholds thereof to establish levels of performance based on four indicators, namely cost per meter drilled, cost per hour of use, availability ratio and accident rate. Two factors were found most relevant to all four indicators of performance: the skill requirement and acceptance of the equipment by the operators. Seat quality was identified as a contributor to improving accident rate, while standardisation of the new equipment relative to the old contributed to productivity. Taking into consideration these key factors and their critical threshold values will help the directors of the participating mine to meet with success in terms of both productivity and OHS in future introduction of innovative equipment projects.

In this era of increased competition and rapid change, mining companies must remain attentive to all opportunities to gain an advantage over competitors. Acquisition of innovative equipment is often viewed as a way of decreasing operating costs, for example, by increasing machinery reliability. The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of new equipment on productivity in underground mining. Ten projects were examined using three indicators: the cost per meter drilled, the cost per hour of use and the equipment availability ratio. The results clearly show that the introduction of new equipment with technological innovations does not necessarily improve productivity. In some cases, performance indicators even dropped. We suggest that future research should focus on identifying the mechanisms and conditions that ensure the increases in productivity following the introduction of the latest innovations in mining equipment. Successful introductions of such equipment likely depend on the conditions surrounding it.

In spite of its economic outputs, the Canadian mining sector has suffered from several setbacks that have compromised its reputation. This has led many of its stakeholders to adopt a shift towards a new paradigm focused on sustainable development.In this review of the literature, we identify the impact that mining activities have had on various social, economic and environmental issues in Canadian society. We also survey the criteria and indicators included in various models that may be used to evaluate the adequacy of the transition of mines towards sustainable development. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses of eight tools that have been applied to the socioeconomic impact of mines are analysed.A clear vision of prospects for promoting sustainable development in Canadian mining emerges from this survey. Our analysis reveals important factors that not given adequate consideration in the models used currently to evaluate and suggests opportunities to improve these evaluation tools through identification of more relevant criteria and indicators.The research undertaken should incite stakeholders to develop social and economic impact evaluation tools that are better adapted to the Canadian context.

Prevention of accidents and occupational diseases plays a major role in the viability of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. However, occupational health and safety conditions in this setting are often precarious compared to large corporations, in which occupational diseases occur eight times less frequently. In a previous study [1], it has been identified, by reviewing the literature, the measures practiced by managers of businesses in this category in the province of Quebec in their efforts to decrease the incidence of occupational diseases. The initial research work reduced these measures to a catalog of elements of management. In the present article, the findings on the application of these elements will be presented, based on a survey of about 400 manufacturing businesses, of which 252 agreed to answer the questionnaire. The present article provides a descriptive statistic from the analysis of the responses. This work allowed to portray the strengths and deficiencies of occupational disease risk management practices in Quebec based on complete and valid responses from 32 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Overall, this portrayal reflects a serious effort to take up the cause of occupational health and safety in this type of business. It nevertheless reveals room for improvement of the implementation of health and safety risk management systems, and prevention of musculoskeletal diseases and hearing loss, which were found to occur in respectively 63% and 25% of these companies. This work therefore recommends that these diseases be treated as a priority by researchers and expert practitioners of occupational health and safety.