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A worker’s hand on the yellow Apex 2 chest clutch on the shoulder strap

Mining

Mining workers operate in some of the most physically demanding environments in any industry: underground, in confined spaces, on remote surface sites. The work involves heavy equipment, awkward access points and sustained physical effort, often in conditions where mechanical handling isn't always possible.

The common roles at risk
  • Underground mine worker
  • Driller and blast crew
  • Underground production operator
  • Maintenance fitter and mechanical trades
  • Boilermaker and welder
  • Heavy equipment operator
  • Conveyor and processing plant worker
  • Mine service crew
  • Warehouse and stores personnel
  • Tyre fitter
  • Exploration and field crew
  • Surface drill and blast operator
  • Shotfirer
A miner in hi-vis and a lamped hard hat standing in an underground drive below a steel work platform
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The hazard

Where the load
actually comes from.

Underground or on surface, mining workers regularly lift, carry, push and position heavy and awkward loads (drill components, pipes, hoses, tools, maintenance equipment and consumables), often in tight spaces where mechanical handling isn't an option.

The risk of back injury builds through forceful exertions, repetitive handling and sustained awkward postures: bending, twisting, kneeling and reaching in environments designed around the ore body, not the worker. Add long shifts, vibration exposure, uneven ground and production pressure, and the physical toll on the lower back compounds throughout every shift.

Reducing the risk,
and meeting the duty.

In Australia and other regulated jurisdictions, employers have a legal duty to identify, assess and control the risks of musculoskeletal disorders, including back injuries, arising from hazardous manual tasks. The focus of WHS legislation is prevention through risk elimination (if possible) and engineering solutions rather than reliance on lifting technique training alone.

Safe Work Australia
Reducing back injury risk and meeting WHS requirements in mining operations:
  1. Identify hazardous manual tasks
  2. Assess risk factors in those tasks SA2050 can assist organisations assess and quantify risk for each manual task
  3. Minimise risks using the hierarchy of control Apex2 is a mechanical aid designed to reduce risk when lifting and bending
  4. Provide information, instruction and training SA2050 provides comprehensive training and assessment of the Apex2 in the workplace
  5. Review control measures

Production doesn't pause for restricted duty.

A back injury underground is not a HR problem. It is a shift that runs short-handed, a task list redistributed to a crew already at capacity, and a lost-time entry that lands on the site safety record.

What one back injury costs
  1. A trained operator off the roster, on restricted duties, at a point in the shift when the crew needs everyone.
  2. A task redistributed to workers already carrying a full load, at the same production target.
  3. A lost-time injury on a site record that every regulator and contractor checks.
  4. A remote site vacancy that can take weeks to fill with someone who knows the equipment.
The other operations
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