Introduction

 

So far you have explored some of the issues surrounding OHS regulation in the mining and quarrying industries. Next you became an expert one of the key issues that surround the proposition that the mining industry is a special case with regard to exposure to specific hazards and risks; therefore the mining industry requires a separate Act and Regulations to ensure the health and safety of workers. Now you are ready to undertake the next stage: the development of a realistic report that will make recommendations on the proposal.

As your team develops this report, it's important to remember that there is no single right answer to the proposal. Your goal should be to see if your team can add understanding and insight to the proposal of how to regulate OHS in the mining industry.  

A few things to keep in mind as your team gets into what is often called 'problem solving':


Instructions

A good report will contained a balance of issues and perspectives as well as being practical and achievable. To assist your group with this task we have developed a step-by-step procedure that will guide your discussions and develop your final group report.
Start here by typing in your names and roles
as you want them to appear in your Group Report:
Team Name:

think of a name your group can relate to
Team Member Name(s): Team Member's Roles:
Click the check out of the checkbox for any extra rows you don't need

Develop your team's Group Report using the following procedure:

Sharing Expertise

The first step is to share your individual role reports - remember the ones you posted in the File Exchange for your lecturer. After you have all read each others Action Plan your discussions should begin. Make sure that you listen to the arguments your fellow team members put forward and take notes about where their ideas will work with yours and where there may be a potential conflict. After each team member has put their case you should ask considered questions that seek to gain additional information and/or clarification. It is important at this stage not to criticize the presentation or information being placed before you. As a group you should be thinking about how you can build a report that reasonably represents a consensus of the roles and not one role triumphing over others.

Now is a really good time to reassess your own action plan in the light of this new information. Remember, your goals shouldn't change but the new information and perspectives should cause you to rethink possible strategies.

So What's Most Important?

Your 'Quest for a safer and healthier workplace - OHS regulation in mining' has been guided by this Quest (ion):

Should the mining industry be viewed as a special case with regard to exposure to specific hazards and risks; and therefore the mining industry requires a separate Act and Regulations to ensure the health and safety of workers?

By now your probably thinking that the disparate views held by your team mates who are advocating for their own roles, is going to make reaching agreement quite difficult! It is at this stage that you are going to have to compromise in order to produce a report that will satisfy all of the roles' perspectives. That's OK because that's the way things happen in real life.
Go back to the notes you made whilst reading your team mates' presentations and look for areas of accommodation and possible conflict.

Remember, that while compromise is nearly always required, you should never loose sight or compromise your role's goals.

The following procedure is used by many of the most effective organisations and consultants and seeks to reach decisions related to long-term goals by a guiding vision of what the group hope to achieve. Quick and simple answers rarely result in long-term solutions.

  1. The diagram below depicts the main question in the middle and around this question the goals and values that should be a part of the vision you expect to achieve through your group report.

  1. The goals and values above are a representation of the core role goals presented earlier. Now you need to choose the three main goals that are the important to your group. This will be difficult because all of your group would like theirs to be chosen.
    When you are deciding try to stand back and think about the overall goal and choose goals and values that are the most critical and important for your quest.

  2. Now that you have decided, type in below the three goals your team thinks are most important:




Understanding Implications

All actions and decisions have consequences and implications. Decisions you make regarding one goal will more than likely impact adversely on another one of your goals. Examine the goals and values above and think about the opposing nature of these. Keep these in mind when you are making decision about your three chosen goals.

Health and safety always highest priority

    If health and safety is always the top priority - can this negatively impact on productivity? If productivity is the driver - can this negatively impact on OHS? If a mine does not maintain productivity - can it remain viable? If a mine is not viable - can workers keep their jobs? If workers want to keep their jobs - is it reasonable to expect that they will be paid extra for productivity measures? If productivity measures negatively impact on OHS - is it reasonable to expect the pay and the safe conditions?

    (As you ponder these questions consider the example of introducing 12 hour shifts into mines to maximise productivity and operational viability)

Risk management approach to managing safety    

    It will probably be easy for your team to decide that a risk management approach is appropriate but if you do - can you also argue that mining has specific hazards that require a separate Act and Regulations? If you argue that mining has specific hazards then are you also saying that the Risk Management approach does not work? Does your argument change if you consider health risks rather than safety hazards? Is it congruent to argue for absolute standards in terms of exposures and a risk management approach?   If you argue in favour of standards can you justify different standards in mining against general industry exposures? Can management effectively deal with hazards and risks if workers put their own health at risk? Can workers behave safely when the environment and work pace forces them to do otherwise?

Hopefully the brief discussions above demonstrate the entwined nature of decision-making and how all things require a balancing act!

OK, it's time to complete your group report. Just fill in the boxes below.

What impact might pursuing have on other goals?


What impact might pursuing have on other goals?


What impact might pursuing have on other goals?


Planning for Success

    For a plan to succeed, it must be acceptable to everyone involved. Based on what you learned in preparing your own Role Report, you may already have a pretty clear idea of how the Queensland Government should proceed with OHS regulation in the mining industry. Now, list what you think are the three most important factors that relate to undertaking this task. .

    Complete the following sentence three times:

    If the Queensland Government is to improve safety and health in the mining
    industry, it should ...

Getting Down to Action

Congratulations - it's now time for your team's Three Point Action Plan. Use what you've learned in identifying goals, exploring implications, considering the objectives of regulating OHS in the mining industry, and creating your own Full Report as a member of this team. The best suggestion is to look again at the Action Plans each of you wrote and see if any match the group's shared goals. Also, remember not to ignore what you've learned about implications and of your propositions.

If at this stage you need to go back and redo your role plans remember that you are looking for what should be done to achieve the three most important goals the group have identified in this report.

Once you're ready to put your goals into specific actions of what should be done, go ahead and type three separate Action Plans (one for each of the three goals your group chose as most important).

    Action Plan #1

    If we want to promote , then


    Action Plan #2

    If we want to promote , then


    Action Plan #3

    If we want to promote , then

Predicting the Future

    To complete your Group Report summarise what you've learned by predicting the consequences of implementing your Three Point Action Plan.

    Think about the response of such things as the political, ethical, moral and financial risks involved. Be specific and realistic as this will engage your classmates and lecturers.

    If my Action Plans are put into effect...

    Once you have completed all the work on this page, click "Create Our Group Report." A window will pop open with your customized report.

    Come back to the page you're on right now as often as you like to adjust your answers and Action Plans. Clicking on the "Create Our Group Report" button again will change your Group Report Webpage.

    Check and see how your work might be evaluated. Copy/paste or print out your Group Report, as you will need this for the next and final part of your quest.


    Now You're Ready! Well done!!!

    By Yvonne Toft & Scot Aldred
    Central Queensland University
    Copyright © 2002 All Rights Reserved
    Last revised July 12, 2004