Page 24 - Inclusion and diversity – Partnering for change

Our stories

Saraji engineering

for safety and

inclusion

“Our aim was not only to reduce the risks associated with

heavy lifting and manual handling but also remove the
physical barriers that prevent some men and women
from completing the task.”

Josh Leppard, Overburden Supervisor, Saraji

Clever thinking from the team
at the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance
(BMA) Saraji Mine has solved a
safety challenge and opened
the door for a more diverse
team of people to do the job.
Josh Leppard, an Overburden
Supervisor at Saraji, and his
colleagues developed Synthetic
Lightweight Couplings, a clever
alternative to the ~110 kilogram
combined weight of a pull ring
and metal shackles. These
couplings are routinely used to
pull mobile equipment in the Watch more here
mining industry.

Josh, who is a competitive Josh and the team worked with “By introducing the soft couplings,
sailor on his days off, used his a marine coupling manufacturer our aim was to not only reduce
knowledge of the marine industry in New Zealand to ‘super-size’ the risks associated with heavy
to develop a practical solution the technology to suit the mining lifting and manual handling, but
to engineer out a manual industry and created Saraji’s soft also remove the physical barriers
handling risk. couplings. The team worked with that may prevent some men and
independent testers to verify and women from completing the task,”
“Being a yacht racer for many strength test the shackles so they explained Josh.
years, we moved away from could be used on site.
using metal shackles four or In fact, the new couplings have
five years ago and now only use The soft couplings weigh around already opened the door for more
synthetic couplings that are made eight kilograms and are made team members to do the job,
specifically for marine purposes,” of Dyneema, one of the world’s and it has removed the need for
said Josh. strongest and most reliable fibers complex ‘two-person lifts’.
available. It’s then braided with
“These couplings are lightweight Technora, the same product The team was named the 2019
but provide exceptional strength used for bulletproof vests and Innovation Award winner at the
as you would expect to be needed firefighting clothing, which 2019 Queensland Mining Industry
on offshore race yachts.” gives it high heat and chemical Safety and Health Conference.
resistance as well as protecting
against chafe.

BHP Inclusion and diversity – Partnering for change 22 February 2020