Improving Mining Site Safety

How Barrier Systems Reduce Risks for Workers and Equipment

Mine sites are by nature, high-risk environments. Heavy machinery, uneven terrain, explosive hazards and constant movement of vehicles and personnel mean that even small errors can lead to major incidents, like machinery tipping over onto pedestrians.  

While training, procedures and supervision are critical, physical barrier systems are often overlooked even though they are among the most effective controls for preventing harm.

Barrier systems, whether fixed guard rails, mobile barriers, vehicle exclusion zones or fencing, play a key role in mining site safety. They protect people, prevent equipment damage, help maintain regulatory compliance, and reduce downtime.  

Legal & Regulatory Drivers in Australia

Working in the mining industry involves several inherent risks that can lead to serious injury or fatality if not properly managed. Barrier systems are in fact best practice and a requirement under regulatory frameworks:

• State mining regulations require safety management systems that identify principal hazards and ensure effective controls are in place.  Barrier systems are part of these controls.
• In Queensland, for example, regulations include requirements for explosion barriers in underground coal mines to control the risk of propagation of coal dust explosions.
• Companies must demonstrate that risks have been eliminated or if not possible, minimised “so far as reasonably practicable”.  

The use of barrier systems is one of the most defensible ways to show that engineering controls have been considered ahead of administrative or PPE controls.

Types of Barrier Systems and their Applications

There are various barrier systems, each suitable for their applications. Choosing the right kind matters because misuse or inappropriate barrier choice undermines effectiveness.

How Barrier Systems Reduce Risk: Real-World Benefits

How well-designed barrier systems make a difference:

• Prevent Collisions Before They Happen:
  Barrier’s force separation between vehicles and pedestrian paths.  Even in low visibility, they physically stop intrusions. This reduces incidents of workers being struck or caught between machinery.
• Protect High Value Equipment and Infrastructure:
  Heavy mining machinery, electrical cabinets, pipelines, storage tanks, when protected by barriers, their damage risk decreases. That means less unplanned maintenance, repairs, or replacement costs.
• Support Safe Walkways, Access, and Egress:
  Mining sites often have elevated walkways, stairs or edges.  Barriers guard these walkways, preventing falls from height or rollover of vehicles that might approach edges.
• Reduce Downtime & Operational Disruption:
  An unplanned collision can shut down part of a site. Repairing damage, investigating incidents and recovering operations can take hours to days.  Barriers reduce those events.
• Show Due Diligence & Strengthen Safety Culture
  Installing solid barrier systems shows to workers, regulators and stakeholders that safety is taken seriously. It builds trust and professionalism on site.

Best Practice for Implementing Barrier Systems

What makes barrier systems work well; what differentiates systems that merely “look good on paper” versus systems that actively prevent harm:

• Risk-based placement: Start by mapping all areas where people, mobile plant and vehicles interact; edges; drop-offs; refuelling areas; places with restricted visibility.
• Design to expected load / impact: Barriers must be engineered to withstand the force of expected impact (e.g. heavy haul truck speed, loader collisions).  Cheap, under-specification barriers can fail or cause unintended damage.
• High visibility & signage: Bright colour, reflective strips, lighting.  Human perception is imperfect; high visibility reduces misjudgement.
• Proper maintenance: Inspect barriers for signs of damage, corrosion, wear-and-tear.  Replace or repair.  A barrier compromised is no barrier at all.
• Integration with Site Safety Systems: Barrier placement must align with traffic management plans, walkways, pedestrian exclusion zones, emergency routes and evacuation paths.
• Engage workforce: Workers need to understand why barriers are there, how to use them, and not defeat them (e.g. bypassing barriers for convenience). Regular toolbox talks, incident reviews, feedback loops.

Challenges & Practical Solutions

Barrier systems can have challenges.  Recognising them and doing the work to address them is part of implementing effective safety.

Challenge: Dynamic site layouts, mining sites move; stockpiles shift, blasting alters terrain, routes change.
Solution: Use a combination of fixed and mobile barriers; a mobile barrier system that can be repositioned quickly.

Challenge: Harsh environments i.e. weather, dust, corrosion.
Solution: Materials designed for mining (polymer, heavy-duty steel with coatings), regular inspections, selecting barrier products rated for the environment.

Challenge: Cost pressures and perceptions of “non-critical” safety spend.
Solution: Emphasise that barrier systems reduce cost long term: fewer incidents, less equipment damage, reduced legal and insurance risk.  

Use estimations of cost-saving from avoided downtime. Also, compliance frameworks often require engineering controls before administrative ones; barriers are often seen favourably in audits or prosecutions.

Examples and Industry Resources

These hazards show up in mining incident reports regularly.  For example, “open pit wall failures” in Western Australian mines have caused damage to equipment and put personnel at risk, with near misses reported when the wall failed unexpectedly.

Further, Safe Work Australia statistics show that in mining, slips, trips, falls and being hit by moving objects or plant are among the top causes of injury and compensation claims.

Verge Safety Barriers offers mine site safety barrier solutions in Australia focused on protecting people and equipment from mobile plant and high-risk zones. Their systems are designed for the rugged demands of mining operations.

Mining regulations across states (e.g. Queensland, Western Australia) mandate that principal mining hazards are identified and controlled. Barrier systems are frequently cited in guidelines and safety bulletins as central to controlling hazards from mobile plant, edge fall hazards, and access control.

Barrier Systems are Critical

In mining, some risks are tolerable, however, falling, being struck by plant or suffering damage due to collisions between equipment and infrastructure is not. Barrier systems are among the most powerful engineering controls available.  They reduce exposure to high consequence risks, protect people, reduce damage and support regulatory compliance.

As a mine site operator, safety manager or a senior leader ask yourselves:

Where are our weak edges?  Where are we still relying on “words” instead of physical control?

By investing in robust barrier systems, fixed, mobile or a combination, accidents can be prevented.  In turn; protecting lives, operations, livelihoods and meeting legal requirements.  

Safety is not a luxury.  It is fundamental.