Dust extraction system recognised at NSW Mining HSEC Awards

The recipients of the NSW Minerals Council’s 2022 Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) Conference Award have been announced at an Industry Awards Dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley. Over 500 people from across NSW were in attendance to celebrate excellence and innovation in NSW mining and to hear the winners announced.

The winners were announced in four categories — ‘Safety Excellence’, ‘Health Excellence’, ‘Environmental Excellence’, and ‘Community Excellence’. Stephen Galilee, CEO of the NSW Minerals Council, said that the awards are an important component of the industry’s efforts to deliver better outcomes for its workforce, communities and the local environment.

“It was great to see our award winners recognised by so many of their industry peers in person at our awards dinner last night after several years of postponements due to COVID,” Galilee said.

Glencore received the Safety Excellence award for its Ulan Underground dust extraction system, also known as Mr Snuffleupagus. The dust extraction system provides a safe working environment by removing airborne dust from areas where cementitious products are mixed and applied. The idea was generated from the front line, where employees were applying shotcrete and plaster products in low ventilation areas. Through consultation with the workforce, the ventilation officer and content experts, the dust extraction system was designed to extract dust at the source.

The system has no moving parts and uses a Clarke Airflow 100 venturi air mover to extract the dust generated by equipment used to mix and apply cementitious products. This innovative idea is designed to be easily replicable at a low cost. Trials have shown that when using Mr Snuffleupagus, the respirable dust level is considerably reduced below workplace exposure standards.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Dmitriy