Roll over protection the mining industryand

There ARE currently no legislative roll over requirements, such as roof strength testing, for any passenger vehicle or four wheel drive (except buses) sold in Australia, which puts mining operators, their contractors and employees at increased risk. Nic Kitchen reports.

ROPS

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HISTORY OF ROPS

Tractors

Roll Over Protection Systems (ROPS) were first developed in Sweden in the 1950s to protect tractor operators in the event of a tractor rolling over or flipping backwards.

ROPS legislation for tractors in Australia became mandatory in 1982. Since this time, there has been a 72 per cent decline in roll over fatalities. Studies by Safe Work Australia found that from 1989-92 there were 40 roll over deaths compared to 17 from 2004-2007.

The decrease in tractor fatalities is strongly linked to the legislation requiring all tractors built after 1981 to be fitted with compliant ROPS (AS1636). ROPS on tractors save lives.

Such is the importance of ROPS for farming equipment that state authorities in New South Wales and Victoria have adopted rebate schemes to financially incentivise farmers to retro-fit ROPS to existing tractors.

In stark contrast, while much has been done to recognise and address the issue of tractor safety to protect farm workers, little has been done to protect occupants of commercial vehicles. There are currently no legislation governing roll over protection, roof strength or roof strength testing for commercial vehicles in Australia.

Road fatalities in Australia

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were over 169,000 road fatalities in Australia between 1925 and 2003.

This death toll surpasses the number of Australians killed in the four major wars in which Australia was involved (I, II, Korea and Vietnam).

Since 2003, the average fatality rate has been approximately 1,300 vehicle related deaths per year. In March 2012 alone, 104 people lost their

lives on Australian roads. The majority of these recent accidents involved single vehicles travelling during the day on weekdays at 100kph (Source: Department of Infrastructure and Transport).

According to the Australian College of Road Safety, roll over crashes account for approximately 22 per cent of passenger cars in fatal crashes in Australia. In these cases, severe injury risk is increased through the lack of occupant safety designed into the vehicle.

How many deaths could be avoided with increased roof and vehicle strength?

In relation to road going vehicles, Mercedes Benz was the first to launch roll over protection for passenger vehicles with the two-seat Roadster Convertible in 1986. Volvo followed with roll over hoops in the C70 convertibles during the 1990s and in 2001, Jaguar developed the Adaptive Restraint Technology System for their XK series.

Anecdotally, the roll over protection for passengers in these vehicles has been increased resulting in fewer injuries and deaths.

However despite the increased protection that roll over systems create, the Federal Office of Road Safety reports that there are currently no rules covering the strength of the roofs of passenger cars in Australia. The situation is particularly worse for occupants of four wheel drives and light commercial vehicles.

Four wheel drives / light commercial vehicle safety

A study by Victoria’s peak motoring group (RACV), shows that drivers of four wheel drive vehicles are more than three times likely to die in a roll over crash than those in ordinary passenger cars.

Roll overs comprise 30 per cent of four wheel drive deaths and serious injuries.

The roll over concern is magnified when vehicles are operated in non-urban environments. For example, 44 per cent of occupant fatalities occur in rural Western Australia and 54 per cent in the Northern Territory.

This places mining operators, their contractors and employees at increased risk as the most common vehicles used on sites, four wheel drives, are typically driven in non-urban environments. The higher centre of gravity, increased capacity, rough terrain and driver fatigue also increases the likelihood of a four wheel drive roll over in a mining situation.

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To date, little has been done by way of testing to prove the roof strength of popular light vehicles used on mine sites and vehicle manufacturers have yet to enhance the roof strength of commercial vehicles operating in harsh conditions.

According to Monash University, there is currently no roll over requirements, such as roof strength testing, for any passenger vehicle or four wheel drive (except buses) sold in Australia. Roof strength testing does not apply under Australian Design Rules as four wheel drives are classed as “special purpose vehicles”.

Drivers of 4WDs are more than three times likely to die in a roll over crash. Protect the roof and you protect the occupants.

REAL WORLD ROLL OVERS

Roll overs can occur through speed, cornering, driver inexperience, sub-standard road conditions, overloaded vehicles, fatigue, collision with another vehicle or object, or traversing a critical slope. These accidents can happen to the most experienced drivers regardless of the time of day and on any surface.

However, the main source of severe injury risk is less from the collision and more from the lack of occupant safety designed into the vehicle.

Without roll over protection, the strength to weight ratio of the structure above the dashboard is insufficient to maintain adequate occupant survival space, i.e. the roof caves in and crushes the occupants (see diagram below).

In a roll over, roof crush occurs when the vehicle’s roof and pillars come into contact with the ground and fail to withstand the weight of the overturned vehicle. The windscreen and windows smash and occupants may be fully or partially ejected.

The severity of occupant injury may be reduced if quality seatbelts are fitted correctly and are being worn at the time of impact, and side curtain air-bags are in place and deploy efficiently, although neither initiative protect the occupants’ survival space.

Quality ROPS save lives

When quality roll over protection systems (ROPS) are fitted to a vehicle (as seen in the Minecorp-equipped vehicle below), they minimise the effect of roof crush.

ROPS protect mine site employees from serious injury and death.

The ROPS provide much needed strength to the B and C pillars of the vehicle when it is overturned and assist to maintain the occupants’ survival space.

The majority of safety-conscious mine operators and contractors have enforced the use of ROPS for light vehicles in the resources industry. It is important to note however that ROPS are much more than a “gate pass”. Not all ROPS manufacturers engineer their ROPS with the right strength and flexibility to absorb the energy created by the accident and protect the occupants. In fact, some poorly constructed ROPS can cause more harm than good.

Real world shot of a 4WD taken after it had rolled multiple times - the occupant walked away.

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ANCAP 5 STAR VEHICLES

ANCAP 5 Star vehicles will offer better occupant safety than 3 or 4 Star vehicles due to advances in safety assist technologies such as roll sensing side curtain air bags and stability control. While these additional safety measures will reduce the risk of a roll over, these vehicles will not have built in roll bars or stronger roof and pillar assemblies than a 3 or 4 Star Vehicle.

No original equipment manufacturer has released a performance criteria or strength-to-weight ratio that will prevent roof crush and protect the occupants’ survival space should a fully laden vehicle roll over at speed. Until dynamic crash testing or real world roll over results prove that factory vehicle roofs are strong enough, ROPS will continue to be an essential safety requirement.

ANCAP 5 STAR VEHICLES

• Roof strength testing is not a requirement of an ANCAP 5 Star vehicle until 2014.

• The new roof strength rating will be a marginal requirement which will not reflect the strength to weight ratio required to stop roof crush of a fully laden vehicle.

• Acceptable roof strength testing is not a requirement of an ANCAP 5 Star vehicle until 2016.

• ANCAP 5 Star vehicles do not have built in roll over protection.

Employee safety is the responsibility of all mine operators, owners and managers and breaches can incur a negative legal outcome.

Would you put your employees in a mine site vehicle that wasn’t tested or proven to protect occupants from death or serious injury?

CORPORATE CHAIN OF RESPONSIBILITY

Within the mining industry, organisations share the responsibility for ensuring breaches of road laws do not occur. Anyone who has control of transport operations including directors, managers, drivers, employers, loaders, consignors, packers, operators, schedulers and receivers can be held responsible for breaches and be held legally liable.

New provisions in the Road Safety Act 1986 mean that from 30 September 2005 the chain of responsibility also applies to mass and dimension limits, and load restraint requirements.

In Australia there are a number of jurisdictions including Queensland and Western Australia who have penal sanctions for workplace deaths. For instance the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 introduced the Workplace Health and Safety Amendments Act 2003 so that the maximum punishment for causing multiple deaths in the work place is three years while causing a single death

attracts a two year jail sentence. In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Legislation Amendments and Repeal Act 2004 introduced the offence of gross negligence causing death which attracted a two year jail sentence. This legislation has recently been amended with new occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation introduced in 2012.

The OHS duty attaches to the corporate activities and not the director’s sphere of influence – this means a director of a company with inter-jurisdictional operations (across multiple locations) can be liable for a breach in Sydney, even if the director is based on the Gold Coast.

Employers or managers of a business may also be personally liable for breaches by an employee.

Light vehicle safety fit-outs and quality ROPS in light vehicles, demonstrate an organisation’s commitment to safety – they protect lives and protect employees, managers and directors against potential or perceived safety breaches.

ALL ROPS AREN’T ROPS

Advanced ROPS are designed to absorb the level of energy transferred during the accident to enhance performance and operator safety. The design process is complex to ensure the ROPS are flexible to absorb energy, but rigid enough to protect the occupants.

Impact loads must be withstood through the longitudinal, lateral and vertical axes of the ROPS.

There are a number of suppliers fitting light vehicles with ROPS that may not be compliant. Examples of some common sub-standard practices occurring are on the following page.

LADEN MASS LIMITS / VEHICLE WEIGHTS

The Australian Design Rules provide a range of standards for laden mass limits.

The installation of items such as additional seats and / or roll over protection devices may result in a substantial change in a vehicle’s tare mass and may significantly affect its load carrying capacity. Modifications must therefore take into account the following guidelines:

• The laden mass of a vehicle, such as a passenger vehicle, must not exceed the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended limit for the vehicle in question.

• In the case of vehicles with a designated Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM), the vehicle’s GVM must not be exceeded.

• The vehicle manufacturer’s recommended individual axle loads must not be exceeded.

• For passenger vehicles a minimum loading allowance of 68 kg for each adult seating position and a minimum loading allowance of 13.6 kg for each seating position for luggage must be used for determining laden mass.

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JOURNEY MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES

Roll over mitigation

• Train your team in advanced driver and mine site safety training.

• Minimise driver fatigue.

• Ensure vehicles are checked regularly.

• Maximise structural and internal safety of all vehicles.

Vehicle Selection

Vehicle selection is important for operators to increase safety and help reduce the complexity of

work site compliance. It is recommended to seek out a supplier who has the technical resources and knowledge to assist with correct fleet selection.

Vehicle selection requires examining the following:

• Vehicle task requirements.

• Vehicle format (2x4 and 4x4) engine, suspension, seating, payload, GVM, towing capacity, airbags, stability control and rated load mesh guards.

• Occupant placement and skill set requirements.

• Access to parts and servicing.

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Nic Kitchen is Minecorp’s Director of Marketing and Sales. Prior to Minecorp Nic was involved in the motor vehicle industry for over 20 years having held senior sales and marketing positions. For more information about Minecorp please contact a member of the Minecorp team now on 1300 922 881.

about the author NIC KITCHEN

Minecorp manufactures distributes and installs light vehicle safety solutions to protect employees working in harsh environments across Australian and international mine sites.

Each Minecorp-equipped vehicle is safe, robust and compliant, backed by extensive research and development. Minecorp fit-outs are designed to comply with site regulations to get vehicles onto mining sites quickly and efficiently.

Minecorp has developed a streamlined ordering system called M-PASS, offering three package options (M-PASS Essentials, M-PASS Industry and M-PASS Endurance) to increase occupant safety, reduce the complexity of work site compliance and get vehicles on site sooner.

Minecorp is an Australian owned and operated company with operations across Australia as well as Saudi Arabia, New Caledonia, Africa, Laos, South America, Papua New Guinea and Mongolia.

about minecorp

ROPS CHECKLIST

Does your ROPS provider meet these standards?

Your ROPS:

• Should have a manufacturers’ plate.

• Should meet all legislative requirements (including Australian Design Rules).

• Should look like it will protect all occupants in the vehicle.

• Should have a load rated mesh barrier to protect occupants against flying objects.

• Should bolt structurally to the chassis to ensure strength.

• Should allow you to sit upright without forcing your head forwards or sideways.

• Should have padding that looks adequate, not air conditioning insulation or upholsterers’ foam wrapped in vinyl.

• Should use high quality roll cage tube and not exhaust pipe or black pipe.

• Should run rear bracing for structural integrity.

• Should minimise the effect on laden mass limits and gross vehicle mass.

• Should not rattle on dirt roads or have exposed bolts or sharp edges.

• Should not move back and forth when you push on it.

• Should not restrict access getting in and out of your vehicle.

• Should not impede on the operation of seats and seat belts.

• Should not affect your vehicle’s insurance.

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