Better
­supervision
with daily
control
BOLIDEN’S PERSONNEL MAGAZINE
NO. 4 | 2015 | VOLUME 11
THEME
Getting our contractors on board
BERGSÖE THINKS BIG
Quick action confined fire
Introducing Boliden’s drone
Safety
The concentrator in
­Boliden has introduced
startup meetings where
safety is top of the agenda.
Boliden gathered suppliers
AROUND 80 OF BOLIDEN’S
LARGEST AND MOST
IMPORTANT SUPPLIERS
ACCEPTED BOLIDEN’S
INVITATION TO THE SECOND
SUPPLIER SUMMIT IN
STOCKHOLM.
was Boliden’s strategy and, in particular, our value Passion for
improvements.
“In order for Boliden to further strengthen
its competitiveness in a global market, we need
a supplier base that meets our expectations in
key areas such as safety, cost, quality, productivity and innovation,” says Björn Stenecker, Chief
Procurement Officer, who was the host for the
event.
the theme for the day
THE AGENDA INCLUDED THE
FOLLOWING POINTS:
TEXT: HELÉN SKOG SAND
PHOTO: GRACEMILL
2
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
•P
assion for improvements – being competitive
in a global market
• Mines – technical development and the future
• Boliden´s position and strategy – overview
and roadmaps
• Environment, health and safety – vital policies and real cases
• Smelters – strategy and the future
• Supply chain responsibility and business ethics
• Productivity and costs – efficiency, innovation
and cost reductions
the principal speakers were Lennart Evrell,
CEO, Mikael Staffas, CFO and President
Boliden Mines, Kerstin Konradsson, President
Boliden Smelters, Thomas Söderqvist, Senior
Vice President Corporate Responsibility, and
Björn Stenecker.
LEADER
SAFETY ALWAYS HAS
TOP PRIORITY
with both mines and smelters,
CONTACT
THE EDITORS!
Do you have colleagues
whose talents need to
be recognised or good
examples to share with
others in the Group?
Has your team hit upon
a smart solution to a
problem? Or perhaps
there’s a topic you’d like
to read about in a future
issue of Boliden magazine?
Let us know! You can find
our e-mail address in the
contacts box below.
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE
Responsible editor:Marcela Sylvander
+46 (0)8 610 15 59
Editor-in-chief: Anna-Karin Rabe
+46 (0)8 610 15 71
Editorial team: Anna-Karin Hellström, Ann
Lundholm, Ann-Charlotte Almquist
Catrine Johansson Lantto,
Eoghan O’Neill, Eva Gödke, Kirsi
Eronen, Kirsi Kyytsönen, Maarit
Frilund, Suvi Hallikainen, Tomas
Westermark and Toralf Helland.
Address:Boliden
Box 44, S-101 20 Stockholm
E-mail:[email protected]
Layout:
TR, Skellefteå
Printing:
Nya Tryckeri City AB
Cover photo:
Tomas Westermark
Boliden is a metals company with a focus on
sustainable development. Scandinavian roots, global
market. Our core competence lies within the fields of
exploration, mining, smelting and recycling. Boliden
has about 4,900 employees and an annual turnover
of more than SEK 37 billion.
MIL
J
RI
KE
ÄRKT TRYC
ÖM
341 814
a weak currency and the effects of successful investments, Boliden is well positioned on a turbulent metals market. We are in the top flight
when it comes to technology and productivity, and our market value has outperformed
almost all other companies in the industry in recent years. This is something we have
achieved together.
However, our accident statistics are far from world-class, and our employees and contractors continue to be injured at work. We can never accept that.
Last year’s employee survey about our safety climate revealed that over one fifth of us feel
that the management gives production priority over safety. If we are to achieve our zero
vision for accidents, it is crucial that there is never any doubt that safety is always our most
important objective, and we must act accordingly. Only then can we establish a culture
where promoting safety is an everyday activity.
Safety and productivity do not oppose one another. A safe workplace is a prerequisite
for stability, and vice versa. Accidents not only cause suffering, but also result in irregular
production, which in turn can increase the risk of further disruption and accidents. In
recent decades, Boliden and other mining companies have reduced the number of accidents
by investing in safer equipment and improving
management systems, risk assessments and procedures.
When it comes to preventing accidents
among our own employees, we have a great
source of knowledge to draw on, and that is the
employees themselves. Within the framework
for NBW a number of initiatives are under way where views and suggestions
are being sought and used far more than was the case previously. Take, for
example, participation in improvement work and the daily startup meetings that are being introduced at more and more of our units. At these
meetings risks and results are visualised on boards, enabling everyone to
see what is happening and how things are progressing. We are also continuing to collaborate with the American consultancy firm Milliken, with
the aim being to create a strong, uniform safety culture and a safer work
environment.
There is huge variation in corporate culture among the contractors who work at our plants. We have everything from small businesses, whose employees are integrated with our own work crews,
to major contractors that carry out and supervise specific projects. To increase safety among our partners, we need to focus on
broader dialogue and better control and set far more stringent
requirements for those people we permit to work here.
In short, it’s about creating awareness and building commitment that brings about a high level of both safety and profitability. We can and will achieve this together too.
There must
never be any
doubt that
safety is always our most
important objective.
LENNART EVRELL
CEO
News
TEXT: ANNA-KARIN RABE
PHOTO: CHILDSPACE FOUNDATION
Facts
Bcause supports school
projects in Nepal
DO YOU ALSO WANT TO
MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
The Bcause foundation is built
on voluntary contributions from
Boliden’s employees, with the
company adding twice the donated
amount. Boliden also bears all
administrative expenses so that
the entire amount raised goes to
the selected projects.
BOLIDEN’S CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, BCAUSE, IS DONATING SEK 700,000 TO
SCHOOL PROJECTS IN THE AREAS STRUCK HARD BY THE EARTHQUAKE.
The donors give SEK 20-80 a
month out of their salaries, and
are welcome to suggest where
they would like the money to go.
boliden’s recently
The foundation supports projects
in the following areas:
established charitable foundation, Bcause, is built on voluntary contributions
from Boliden’s employees, with the company adding
twice the donated amount. For every SEK donated,
Boliden adds two.
In 2015, the employees donated a total of SEK
235,000, which after the company’s contribution
became more than SEK 700,000.
In December, the Board of the foundation decided
on the project suggestions received, and this year
chose to support school projects in Nepal through
the Childspace Foundation. The projects work in
areas severely affected by the strong earthquake, and
Production of copper anodes on 28 May 1945 at factory
facilities that were still under construction. The sun
shines into the hall through the half-finished roof.
4
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
the children are in great need of help.
“It’s very pleasing that we have together raised an
amount that can make a real difference. But we can
do much more. So far, only 7 percent of Boliden’s
employees have opted to donate to the foundation,
and I hope that many more will choose to join so
that we can donate at least SEK 1 million next year.
I’m sure many already donate to other organisations,
but I personally think that it feels good to also make
the world a little better together with my colleagues,”
says the Chair of the Board of the foundation,
Marcela Sylvander, who is also the Director Group
Communications.
In 1945 well over 1,000 people
worked on and built the smelter
at Harjavalta.
•c
hild and youth health and development
• a healthy and safe work
environment
• environment and conservation.
The projects may, for instance,
involve assisting children in need
of care, improving the work environment for industrial workers, or
protecting forests and seas.
Would you also like to join?
More information and a registration form are available
on the intranet B-linked.
MINECRAFT
GETS REALISTIC
at the beginning of november,
Geological Survey of Sweden
(SGU) launched BetterGeo, a free modification for the popular
online game Minecraft.
“In BetterGeo we are replacing what is called ‘stone’ in the
normal version of Minecraft with real rocks, such as gneiss,
mica schist, marble and kimberlite. These can be used to make
alloys and build new objects, such as a jet pack or a defibrillator,” writes SGU on its website.
The BetterGeo modification is available worldwide in Swedish and
English and can be downloaded via SGU’s website: www.sgu.se
BOLIDEN WELCOMES
MEMBERS OF THE RIKSDAG
members of the swedish parliament,
the
Riksdag, visited Rönnskär and Kankberg as part of
an educational programme organised by the industry association SveMin. The programme aims to
provide insight into mining in Sweden, the current
situation and opportunities within the industry.
The visitors were able to study the value chain
of the metals we produce, from mining to the finished metal, as well as learn more about electronics recycling, among other subjects. For Boliden,
this was a chance to showcase our expertise and
efforts in terms of our social, environmental and
financial responsibilities throughout the value
chain, as well as throw light on the need for metals in modern life.
The programme included a visit to Rönnskär
and Kankberg, with focus on material flow, process development, recycling, exploration, mining
technology and land issues.
was the third and final part
of the visitors’ educational programme on the
metals industry. The first, which took place at the
Riksdag in Stockholm, focused on environmental
issues and legislation. The second involved a visit
to LKAB in Kiruna, where the participants were
given an insight into large-scale iron ore production, work on health and safety, and how the
Swedish minerals industry is working to improve
the long-term social acceptance of its activities.
the visit to boliden
Harjavalta:
a sprightly 70-year-old
TEXT: SUVI HALLIKAINEN
january 2015 marked 70 years since the very
first copper was smelted at Harjavalta. The anniversary was celebrated in a number of ways during
the year. For instance, during late summer there
was a staff barbecue and during the autumn there
was an open house event that attracted a record
crowd.
The establishment of the copper smelter in
Harjavalta was an exceptional event in Finland’s
industrial history. The advent of WWII led to
a decision in 1944 to move the copper smelter
from Imatra in eastern Finland to the other side
of the country, or more specifically to Harjavalta.
This had a huge impact on the small town. The
local population had previously supported itself
through agriculture, but the area quickly became
one of the most industrialised and affluent communities in Finland at that time. Today, Boliden
Harjavalta is the largest private employer in the
region.
In 1949 a new and revolutionary flash smelting method was introduced. This development
was due to a shortage of power and subsequent
increased production costs, as well as demands
from the authorities for economy measures. Flash
smelting utilises the combustion heat already present in the concentrate’s sulphur and iron content,
meaning the process requires no additional energy.
This method is still one of the most important
metallurgical innovations in the world, and nowadays it is the most widely used smelting method
for copper and nickel concentrates.
DON’T MISS
AITIK ON TV
on new years eve, an episode of
the Swedish tv series “Felix stör en
ingenjör” – Felix disturbs an engineer – will be broadcast, which sees
the comedian Felix Herngren visit
the Aitik mine. The series follows
Felix as he meets engineers from
various companies to see how they
work and what they do in their free
time, and aims to encourage young
people to become interested in engineering as a profession.
In the episode filmed at Aitik,
Felix accompanies Boliden process
engineer Jennifer Andersson on a
study visit to the mine and the concentrator, which both turn out to
be a great deal larger than Felix had
expected.
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
5
TEXT: PER RENMAN PHOTO: STEFAN BERG ILLUSTRATION: TR
MOVING UP THE
SAFETY LADDER
In many areas, Boliden is an industry leader, but not
when it comes to safety. Per Renman, Group Safety
Director, explains how we can and must improve.
the term safety culture refers to
the way safety issues are addressed
in a workplace. It reflects the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and values the employees share in relation
to safety. In other words: “the way
we do safety around here.”
So how do we “do safety” at
Boliden? Our recent safety culture survey indicates that we have
plenty of room for improvement.
21 per cent of the responders
believe management is prioritizing production before safety and
33 per cent answers that they are
willing to accept risks to keep up
production.
This indicates that we have a
very strong production oriented
culture and that a large group of
our employees will take short cuts
to reach production targets.
However, as CEO Lennart Evrell
points out in his editorial on page
3, the one does not exclude the
other. On the contrary, there is a
strong correlation between a high
level of safety and more stable production, and our work to increase
safety therefore supplements our
other improvement work within
the framework for NBW.
On a five level safety maturity ladder (the Hudson, model
shown to the right) where five
means “fully engaged” and one
“ignorant”, Boliden is somewhere
between level 2 and 3. This basically means we are still very reactive, but we have started to reflect
and implement a more systematic
way of working although still very
leader driven.
To move up the stair, one rung
at a time, we need to create strong
and genuine commitment on the
part of all those who work at
Boliden’s premises, including our
contractors.
Safety as part of our
daily work
A very important part is not
being afraid to
point out when
a colleague is
showing unsafe
behavior, and
accept when
others point this
out to ourselves.
Safety is largely created in our dayto-day work, and is based on each
person taking responsibility and
the time to consider and actually
follow the applicable procedures.
To succeed, we need to create a
safety culture in which our risk
awareness is high, and our willingness to work in a safe manner is
well-established and part of our
daily routine.
A very important part is not
being afraid to point out when a
colleague is showing unsafe behavior, and accept when others point
this out to ourselves. This is not a
blame game, but a way of show-
TEXT: ANNA-KARIN RABE PHOTO: RONNY BRÄNNSTRÖM
Good role models won study trip to the USA
Three employees from Kristineberg, Renström and the concentrator
plant in Boliden were rewarded for initiatives that increased safety.
decided earlier this year to try to turn the safety
discussion from the subject of at-risk behaviour to promoting positive
examples and good role models – all to strengthen the safety culture.
As part of these efforts, the concentrator plant in Boliden and the
Kristineberg and Renström mines each decided to present a newlyinstituted work environment award to employees who have exhibited
outstanding safety awareness.
the boliden area
6
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
This year’s
winners are:
Gunnar Norman – project manager, Kristineberg
Nils Petersson – miner, Renström
Joachim Kähler – process operator, Boliden
the winners received a study trip to Milliken Institute in the
USA, where they received three days’ work environment training. Here,
Joachim Kähler discusses his reaction to the award and the trip.
this year
PER RENMAN
GROUP SAFETY DIRECTOR
RE
TY
FE
IM
ED
OV
PR
SA
U
LT
CU
P
IM
The so called Hudson model (shown here
in simplified form) is used within the
Lean philosophy (NBW) to illustrate how
far an organisation has come in its safety
work. Boliden is currently somewhere
between rungs two and three.
ing that we care for each other and
that we wish everyone to return
home uninjured at the end of the
shift. This is also the essence of
Boliden’s B-safe concept.
tion agreement with Milliken,
a world leading company when
it comes to safety and Lean
(NBW). Milliken will conduct
site assessments on seven out of
our ten production units to proStrong engagement
vide us with ideas on how we can
There are plenty of good safety iniimprove and create a more solid
tiatives going on at our sites, posemployee engagement. A good
sibly more than ever before. Here
example of this is the Boliden
are a few examples:
Area’s decision to send three
• All 100 top managers in Boliden
employees with a strong personal
will participate in management
safety commitment to a seminar
E
URSpartanburg,
development programs focused
at Milliken’s HQLTin
CU
on how to use your personal
USA (see below).
TY
E
F
leadership style to improve safety. • S melters,
Mines and Group
SA
ED
The Mid Management Program
Procurement
have recently
V
O
and Young Professionals will alsoMPR formed an internal improvement
I
focus on how we all can contribteam to synchronize the efforts,
ute to an improved safety culture.
share best practice and create a
• Boliden has signed a cooperaroad map on how to improve the
The jury pointed out that you regularly suggest ways in which
to improve areas such as the ore concentrate terminal and the
leaching plant, including your own alterations, which result in a
safer workplace. Would you agree?
“Yes, it’s true. My aim is usually to simplify and improve, to
make the work environment safe and acceptable. Not every idea
will succeed at the first try, but you mustn’t give up.”
In what way do you think the three of you make good role
models?
“By trying to set a good example and not be careless or cut corners. Good housekeeping is vital when it comes to the work environment and safety.”
Could you give us a few examples of things you learned during
your trip?
safety for our contractors. The
team will meet monthly until we
see an improvement. Many units
have also recently intensified
discussions with their contractors about expected attitudes and
behavior.
• Group Procurement recently
hosted a Supplier Summit with
many of our major contractors
to clarify our increased focus on
safety in future evaluations. New
contracts will include a much
stronger requirement of good
safety performance. We will also
learn from other companies with
advanced contractor safety programs like Skanska and NCC.
• Many units now hold daily coordination meetings to make sure
all potential risks are communi-
cated, discussed and managed.
Contractors are often also invited
to participate. This is a procedure expected to take place on all
Boliden units in the coming year
as it is one of the most efficient
tool to create engagement.
these initiatives involve a large
number of Boliden’s employees,
and is a clear sign that we are taking the challenge seriously. We are
well on our way, and if we keep up
the good work and engagement we
will surely see positive results in
the near future.
“In order to ensure a good work environment,
you need structure, regularity/reminders, and a willingness and a commitment at personal level. The company we visited had established safety teams made up of a
select group of people with the right attitude, and these teams
devote 3-5 hours a week to dealing with safety issues.
They also put a lot of emphasis on acknowledging the number of accident-free days and celebrate with joint activities.
Safety must cost time and money. Ultimately, the business will
still profit, both materially speaking and, above all, in the sense
that no one is injured or killed.”
So how do you think your own workplace compares?
“The Boliden Area has made good progress and we are in an
excellent position to improve the safety culture here.”
JOACHIM
KÄHLER
PROCESS
OPERATOR,
CONCENTRATOR IN
BOLIDEN
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
7
P
IM
TEXT AND
PHOTO: TOMAS
WESTERMARK
BETTER SUPERVISION
with daily control
At the concentrator in Boliden quick startup meetings are providing
a better overview of both results and risks.
a year ago a plan was devised at the concentrator
in Boliden for putting in place more reliable and
stable production planning and raising awareness of
safety. The aim was to review production on a daily
basis and identify any obstacles requiring immediate attention. There was also a desire to improve
coordination between the departments.
In August 15-minute morning meetings were
introduced, during which events and deviations are
systematically checked against an agreed plan, and
information is provided about the contractors that
will be on site during the day.
“We always begin by looking at any deviations,
particularly those that have to do with health and
the environment. We then go through the production flow to see how it’s going and whether there is
anything special happening out in the departments
that day,” explains production manager Jenny
Forsberg.
This approach provides an overview of the risks
and challenges that need to be addressed. The
information is followed up visually on a large board
showing all the sections.
“This means we have a better overall view of
the operation and know what is happening within
the other departments. These meetings also give
employees a forum and enable them to put ideas
and questions to managers and supervisors,” continues Jenny.
To illustrate how it all works, a film has been
produced showing how the work on safety and
risks is incorporated into the day-to-day operation.
A second film made during the autumn looks at
how the same method is being used at Aitik, following the flow of information from shift to management team and how measures are recorded in an
action plan and followed up on every day.
You can find the film about the concentrator in
Boliden and the forthcoming film about Aitik on
B-Linked under Jag och mitt jobb > Mediacenter
(Me and my job > Media centre).
8
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
Production manager Jenny Forsberg
and her colleagues at the concentrator
in Boliden begin every day with a pulse
meeting. The team runs through the
identified risks, any deviations and a
list of the contractors working today.
Boliden’s Safety Network is headed by Group Safety Direcot Per Renman, and comprises
representatives from all the units, usually work environment coordinators and work environment
managers. The aim is to coordinate the work to improve safety and swap experiences.
“We profit by
cooperating”
TEXT: ANNA GEJKE HAESERT
AND MALIN SÖDERMAN
PHOTO: ANNA-KARIN RABE
Boliden’s Safety Network will enable the Group
to work more consistently on safety.
health, safety and the environment are top of Boliden’s agenda
– there can be no doubt about
that. The challenge lies in getting
the entire organisation to work
together to achieve the objectives
we’ve set ourselves. In order to
exploit the momentum that exists
within the business and increase
the exchange of experiences, the
Group has established a number of
networks within these areas. These
networks provide Boliden’s EHS
experts with an opportunity to
meet and promote cooperation.
All the units are represented,
usually by a work environment
coordinator or work environment
manager. Other members of the
network are Anna Gejke Haesert,
EHSQ Manager for Boliden
Smelters, and Malin Söderman,
Manager Health & Safety for
Boliden Mines, who are responsible for coordinating work environment matters within their respective business areas.
“It is incredibly important that
we work on these issues in a structured manner and identify all the
positive initiatives and concepts
put forward by the units. These are
issues that affect everyone, whether
you work at a smelter or a mine,
and therefore we profit by cooperating,” says Malin.
the group examines issues that
are then passed on to Boliden’s
Safety Board for a decision. Two
hot topics are greater contractor safety and the evolution of
Boliden’s safety culture.
“As regards contractor safety, we
still have some way to go before
we can call ourselves ‘world class’.
It’s an unfortunate trend that they
are involved in so many accidents.
Solving this problem is a challenge.
We hope to make some progress by
working with the Group’s purchasing function. If we can set clear
requirements as early on as the
procurement stage, it will make a
big difference,” explains Anna.
Up-to-date information about
the Safety Network and Safety
Board can be found on the
intranet B-linked under
@Boliden/Organisation.
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
9
TEXT: MARCUS GUSTAVSSON PHOTO: DAN PERSSON
Bergsöe thinks
Bergsöe is the smallest operation in the Group,
but leads the way when it comes to increasing
commitment among employees. Here, 70 per cent
of the workforce belong to an improvement team,
with the aim being to increase the level of safety.
ing up on previous deviations and
risks. Immediately after the meeting, the minutes are e-mailed to all
employees to ensure rapid dissemination of information throughout
the organisation.
concept at Bergsöe. The operation has
been working hard for several years
to make safety a natural part of
employees’ everyday work. It has
had good results in the form of
more reported risks and near-accidents, but a rising LTI frequency
over the year shows that there is
still room for improvement.
“Like many other units at
Boliden, the first item on the
agenda at any meeting is always
safety. But we don’t want safety
to be something we feel obliged
to discuss. It must be as natural
a topic as how many tonnes of
material we produced in the last
24 hours or the duration of yesterday’s stoppage. Communicating
this clearly, listening and showing
that the management is willing to
Bergsöe set up a safety group in
2012, which currently comprises
13 representatives from all departments. This equates to almost 20
per cent of the workforce. The
group meets at regular intervals to
discuss safety and improvements.
As some members of the group are
also members of the management
team, decisions about any action
needed can be made quickly and
implemented immediately. The
group also arranges study visits to
other companies to get inspiration
for our own safety work.
be safe is an important
act accordingly is vital if we are
to encourage widespread commitment in the workplace,” says
Marcus Gustavsson, an EHSQ
engineer at Bergsöe.
Bergsöe is a small unit with
around 70 employees, which gives
it an advantage in these matters. It
is easier to gather the entire organisation together to discuss and work
on behavioural change, and decisions about improvement measures
can be made quickly. Here are some
of the methods they employ:
Morning meetings
Participants at the morning meetings for production discuss the
safety situation, for example, by
reviewing deviations and risks that
have been identified during the
last 24 hours, as well as follow-
Safety group
Monthly progress
checks
Each department organises
monthly meetings to discuss safety
in a tangible way. Issues discussed
include work environment devia-
tions reported by the shift. There
is also feedback on action taken
and whether these measures have
had the intended effect or if additional action is required. A recurring feature is also risk drills, when
someone takes a photo of a work
element or an area of the site and
evaluates any risks associated with
it, as well as putting forward suggestions as to how such risks can
be avoided.
‘In others’ shoes’
All employees take part twice a
year in the training programme ‘In
others’ shoes’, which entails shadowing a colleague for a minimum
of two hours in order to better
understand how one person’s work
affects others within the organisation.
Safety inspections
Committed managers produce
committed employees, and the
management at Bergsöe maintains
a high profile within the operation. One example of this is the
Gemba walks, which look at every-
Rönnskär inves
THE MAJORITY OF RÖNNSKÄR’S EMPLOYEES HAVE SIGNED
UP TO THE BE SAFE CONCEPT, BUT THE CHALLENGE LIES IN
MAKING IT A PART OF EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES.
TEXT AND PHOTO: ANN LUNDHOLM
Maria Svärd, Rönnskär’s analysis department manager, is committed to
ensuring the safety of her employees in the laboratory. Seen here with
work environment engineer Johnny Lindbergh.
10
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
in order to increase the level of
commitment, Rönnskär has introduced Be Safe dialogues, where the
management for each department
sits down with the Safety department to discuss ways to increase
the focus on safety in everyday
work. As well as discussing the
current safety culture, participants
also look further ahead. The most
important dialogue concerns how
Be Safe can be integrated into everyday work. The aim is to increase
the level of commitment using
ideas put forward by employees.
“We hold these dialogue meetings to highlight the departments’
own ideas about how we can
make the Be Safe concept an element of our safety culture. We
big
thing from safety to 5S. Employees
also conduct their own monthly 5S
inspection, and there is a weekly
inspection in production where
representatives from the shift teams
conduct a collective inspection,
together with a supervisor and an
EHSQ representative. The longterm aim is for the shifts to conduct this inspection themselves.
NBW for all
During the past year all employees have received training in New
Boliden Way, which has meant that
there is now consensus on how
work is to be performed safely in
the future and in accordance with
the Lean principles. Currently, the
contractors we work with most are
also receiving NBW training in
order for us to be able to include
them in this work.
Broad commitment
A number of different improvement teams have been set up during 2015, comprising employees
from all of the various departments. These teams work hard to
In others’
shoes
standardise various tasks. There is
great commitment and, at present,
70 per cent of the workforce participates in one group or another.
We would like to see this figure
increase next year.
Rapid follow-up
Each week an EHSQ representative
and one or more supervisors meet
to follow up on reported work
environment deviations and risks in
order to be able to investigate and
introduce measures more quickly.
Anyone who has reported a deviation is kept informed and so knows
that the matter is being taken seriously and looked into as quickly as
possible.
WORKING THE RIGHT WAY
During the autumn a film about Be Safe has
been made at Bergsöe. The film is intended
to be used throughout the Group to encourage discussion and ideas about safety
behaviour and risks. The story focuses on
an accident that occurred at Bergsöe at
the beginning of 2015 and illustrates the
essence of Be Safe – a film about paying
attention and speaking out. The film will be
available on the intranet.
Bergsöe’s ‘In others’ shoes’ concept sees employees shadow a
colleague to better understand how their own work affects others.
Here, lab assistant Vesna Karabasevic receives a visit from mechanic
Mikael Andersson.
sts in Be Safe dialogue
are convinced that the approaches
which the departments have come
up with themselves encourage
greater commitment,” says Johnny
Lindbergh, a work environment
engineer at Rönnskär.
A number of concrete proposals
have been put forward. One example is providing at least one person
on every shift team with special
training in case management to
encourage greater reporting of
near-accidents and identified risks.
Participants also discuss how
the local safety representatives
can become more involved. An
important signal is that management and safety representatives are
seen to be working together out
in the departments. Many people
also point out that it is important
for the management team to be
visible out in the workplace on a
regular basis, not just during safety
inspections.
is to implement
and follow up on ideas. The
responsibility for this rests with
managers and leaders.
With the aid of a check list,
analysis department manager
the next step
Maria Svärd has found a good way
of going through safety information with new employees and
deputies.
“We noted that this group suffers quite a few near-accidents,
and discovered that the safety
element of the induction process
was being swamped by everything
else. Together with instructors, we
produced a check list to help us go
through the information repeatedly. The induction now receives
much higher marks and there is
greater focus on safety,” says Maria
Svärd.
The induction
now receives
much higher
marks and there
is greater focus
on safety.
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
11
The number of accidents being reported among Boliden’s own
employees is falling, but our contractors are bucking this trend.
The solution is regular dialogue and increased understanding.
TEXT: MONIKA NILSSON
Getting our
contractors on board
boliden is on the right track internally and the number of accidents
and incidents is gradually falling. Unfortunately, the figures for hired
contractors are bucking this trend, which is why focus is now shifting to
working towards a zero vision in partnership with our contractors.
“We must get away from this ‘them and us’ mentality and include
everyone in our safety work, regardless of whether a person is a Boliden
employee or employed by someone else. Everybody contributes to the
safety culture, and the actions of each person are extremely important.
Anyone working at a Boliden site is responsible for ensuring that work
can be carried out safely and without risks,” says Per Renman, Group
Safety Director.
Dialogue on attitudes and behaviour
Today, Boliden cooperates with hundreds of external parties who make a
significant contribution to day-to-day production and play an important
part in our safety culture. In order to be able to work at a Boliden site,
individuals already have to meet certain requirements in respect of safety
training and observe our rules. However, the risk is that information is
falling through the cracks and not being passed on to everyone. Dialogue
and daily communication between employees and contractors is therefore
crucial.
“When we look at leading global companies that have already achieved
a zero vision, we can see straight away that increased dialogue on attitudes
SAME ATTITUDE
greater safety
TEXT AND
PHOTO: ANN
LUNDHOLM
12
“boliden
has, without a doubt,
increased its focus on safety in recent
years. Consequently, as contractors we are
forced to improve our day-to-day safety
work. This is a good thing and provides
security, both for ourselves as employers
and for our personnel.”
That’s the opinion of Fredrik Janglund,
who together with Peter Bergström, owns
and runs the contractor Blästring &
Målning. They have around ten employees who carry out blasting of ladles and
painting jobs at the Rönnskär smelter.
“None of our employees is allowed
through Rönnskär’s gates without having
first completed web-based SSG safety
training and taken a lead test. Risk analyses are standard nowadays, both for new
and repeat jobs. A new procedure we’ve
introduced is the written work permit
in control rooms, when our staff review
safety with Boliden’s operators before
going out into the plant.”
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
What does day-to-day
safety work entail?
“At the morning meetings we plan the
day’s work and carry out the appropriate
risk assessments. The people who will
be doing the work sign to confirm that
they have completed the analysis, thereby
ensuring that our employees understand
the local risks. If we take on extra staff,
they receive information about our own
and Boliden’s procedures before starting
work. The importance of good housekeeping in the workplace is also included
in the risk assessments.”
How do you approach
safety work before a big
maintenance stoppage?
“Prior to the stoppage, we start to
gather together our usual and any additional personnel in order to go through
the various work elements, including
risk assessments. That way we get feed-
back on issues we hadn’t even thought
of. We plan how the work will be done
and ensure that the right people are in
the right place, putting new people with
more experienced individuals.”
How do safety inspections
work?
“We carry out our own inspections
at the two permanent work stations for
blasting. The focus is on good housekeeping and the equipment being in
good condition. All our equipment is
inspected regularly by Inspecta. IF Metall
carries out the safety inspections for our
company.”
How do you train
personnel?
“Certain jobs demand specific training,
which we must ensure that employees
receive. This is the case for thermosetting
plastics and work platforms, for example.
and behaviour is what makes the difference. We have already made some
progress in this area. A number of units hold joint morning meetings in
order to go through the day’s activities and assess any risks. We now want
to expand these routines, ensuring greater contractor participation. The
meetings do not need to take place in closed meeting rooms, but can be
‘pulse meetings’ where supervisors and key personnel get together out on
the shop floor or in the mine. The important thing is that information
is exchanged, with everyone present contributing and highlighting any
risks. This information must then be passed on so that everyone knows
what’s happening. Once this process is in place, I am convinced that we
will see an improvement in the accident statistics,” says Per.
More precise requirements
Boliden’s safety requirements for contractors have for many years been set
out in detail during the procurement process. Boliden will now provide
further clarification and also introduce more rigorous demands for compliance. The purchasing organisation is currently producing a supplier manual
as a means of ensuring a uniform procurement process at each of the units.
“We will be demanding more in terms of compliance with our rules,
and we want to improve both dialogue and follow-up procedures. A lot
of contractors are really good and make a notable contribution to our
safety culture, but we are seeing a big difference between the various
suppliers. In the future, our more rigorous requirements will result in
companies that fail to comply with our rules being phased out to a much
greater extent. For future procurements we will also be more explicit
about safety requirements during the enquiry stage, and we will not consider any contractor that does not take a structured approach to safety
issues,” says Björn Stenecker, Boliden’s Chief Procurement Officer.
CLEAR
FRAMEWORK
AT AITIK
TEXT: CATRINE JOHANSSON LANTTO
with approximately 700 own employees and
countless contractors and subcontractors, it is not
always easy to convey messages about safe working practices and risk awareness. For that reason,
the management at Aitik has now decided to make
a vigorous collective effort to ensure a safer work
environment for all.
“We have recently put in place a four-point plan
to improve our safety work. The plan
covers both our own staff and the
contractors we employ,” says
Micael Andersson, the work
environment manager at
Aitik.
A lot has to do with
information and training.
Everyone must know what
role they play in safety work
and take responsibility for that.
If you are in a management position, you are also responsible for
the entire team. The first point in
MICAEL
ANDERSSON
the plan is therefore to train Aitik’s
WORK
managers.
­ENVIRONMENT
MANAGER
AT AITIK
Work Environmental Engineer Martina Johansson at Rönnskär speaks regularly to contractors
Peter Bergström and Fredrik Janglund.
These jobs are never assigned to new
employees or extra staff we’ve taken on.
We are pretty proud of our ‘4 policies’,
which is an item on the check list for
inducting new employees. These cover
the areas of work environment/safety,
alcohol/drugs, sick leave/rehab, and traffic/vehicles.”
industrial safety engineer Martina
Johansson is Boliden’s contact person
for the contractor. She praises the level
of commitment shown by Blästring &
Målning.
“We have good dialogue, by phone or
e-mail. They participate in all the safety
committee meetings, conduct serious
risk analyses and their personnel use the
prescribed protective equipment. Quite
simply, they seem to have a good safety
culture at their own company.”
contractors at Aitik are greatly
overrepresented in accident statistics. Point two is therefore aimed directly at them.
“Each company is responsible for its work environment, and it is important that their efforts fulfil
Boliden’s requirements. We will therefore gather
together the managers from the 30 contractors we
work with most to clarify our expectations. We have
arrived at a level in our work environment management where we need more time to further develop
it. In order for this to happen, we have to be willing
to let contractors take responsibility for their work
environment within Aitik’s gates,” says Micael.
He hopes that we will have reached a point
where the contractors themselves develop a culture
of safety awareness that is consistent with Aitik’s
efforts as early as next spring. The best contractors
also contribute to the development of Boliden’s own
safety culture.
Points three and four also concern contractors.
Firstly, Aitik’s own employees have to be provided
with training about contractor responsibility from
Boliden’s perspective and in the eyes of the law.
Secondly, in order to be able to build a common
platform, the contractors’ own safety representatives,
if they have them, must be encouraged to become
more involved in work.
“We want to create a clear framework for safety at
Aitik, with clear guidelines on how to work safely,”
concludes Micael.
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
13
TEXT: MAARIT FRILUND
INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE IS AN
IMPORTANT SAFETY ASPECT
Exposure to harmful substances can lead to serious
health risks. That is why Kokkola is taking a
systematic approach to improving industrial hygiene.
does not
have a direct impact on accident
statistics, but long-term exposure
to harmful substances can lead to
serious health risks. Good industrial
hygiene is therefore one of the most
important aspects of safety work,
and one of the least visible. At
Kokkola they are taking a systematic
approach to improving industrial
hygiene and regularly following up
on the results.
At the end of the year all the production departments hold planning
meetings, at which representatives
from the department, safety managers and the occupational health
service go through issues linked to
industrial hygiene and produce an
action plan. The assessment is based
on measurement results gathered on
an ongoing basis.
“The typical risks involve exposure to cadmium, lead and mer-
poor industrial hygiene
cury, which are present in the mine
concentrates. These substances
are dealt with at the start of the
production chain, where they are
eliminated from the process,” says
Sirpa Olaussen, safety manager at
Kokkola.
who work
on maintenance out in production are followed up on. Here,
potential problems include exposure in connection with welding,
when chromium and nickel can be
released. Nickel is also handled at
the foundry.
Fortunately, it is very rare for the
limits to be exceeded, meaning the
operation can concentrate on preventive measures. The risk of exposure can be reduced, for example,
by developing working methods and
observing cleanliness requirements.
5S is an excellent tool in this work.
even the employees
The risk of
exposure can
be reduced
by developing
working
methods and
observing
cleanliness
requirements.
“The best approach is to eliminate a problem. If you can’t do
that, or if it takes too long to
implement corrective measures,
exposure can be prevented with the
aid of occupational safety,” explains
Sirpa.
In order to raise safety levels further, this year Kokkola has included
the smelter’s other premises in this
work. During the autumn a working group was set up to look at
indoor air quality and other potential problems.
The operation has concentrated
on providing transparent information throughout, which is why the
measurement results are published
on our intranet B-linked. An ongoing poster campaign also reminds
everyone about the specific challenges that exist in break rooms and
dining areas adjacent to the factory
premises.
Clearer signs for
improved safety
This autumn, Tara set up a task group with the
mission to establish a standard for underground
signage.
TEXT: SEAN GILMORE
Tara’s signage underground, a Signage Task Group was set
up in October involving employees from the mine. The group initially
carried out a survey to fully understand and document the diversity of
signage already in place.
It then set about writing a standard operating procedure that specifies templates to be used in each signage need situation. The templates
include; sign sizes, colours, font size and the material used to manufacture
the sign. This ensures all signs will conform to the stipulated regulations.
Initially, signage at the main decline, ore passes, light vehicle bypasses and
to improve
14
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
sumps were targeted for up-grade to the new standard.
Feedback on the new signs is positive and the plan is to roll out them
out to other areas in the mine and eventually have them as the established
standards.
NBTM SIGNAGE TASK GROUP
Nicola Molloy, Declan Collins, Rory Farrelly, Claire
Tully, Billy Byrne and Sean Gilmore have all participated in the Task Group.
Process operator Mika Alasaari discovered the fire and
took immediate action to avoid further damage.
TEXT AND PHOTO: KIRSI KYYTSÖNEN
Quick action
confined fire
When a fire broke out at Harjavalta’s electrolysis plant, the quick
thinking of two process operators helped to avoid serious damage.
a fire broke out
among the decoppering tanks
at Harjavalta’s electrolysis plant.
Earlier the same day power was
reconnected to the tanks after
having been disconnected for a
stoppage. Half an hour later, process operator Mika Alasaari saw
the fibreglass cover of a tank in
flames on a monitor in the control room. He immediately shut
off the power and contacted the
building engineer.
While Mika did this, his colleague Eero Jaakkola rang the
emergency services.
“I then switched off the ventilation system and went outside
in september
to close the department’s rolling
doors,” he explains.
Mika and Eero notified the
fire brigade of the location of the
fire and the types of chemicals
present at the site. When the fire
brigade arrived, three of the tanks’
fibreglass covers were on fire, and
there was heavy smoke. The fire
was extinguished after an hour,
and serious damage was avoided
thanks to the operators’ quick
thinking.
“Monitoring the facility is one
of our duties, and it’s important
to be able to react quickly when
needed,” says Mika.
Mika and Eero both have first
aid training and first aid training
for electrical accidents, which is
mandatory for anyone working
with electrolysis.
“We have prepared for situations like this by discussing how
we should act, and we also took
part in a special drill a year ago,”
explains Mika.
the cause of the fire was probably a short circuit in connection
with new anode scrap being lowered into the tanks.
“We are now looking into
whether the fibreglass in the covers
can be replaced with another less
flammable material,” says Mika.
Facts
Residual copper is extracted from
the electrolyte using a direct
current in the decoppering tanks.
This process uses old copper
anodes, so-called anode scrap,
as cathodes and sheet lead as
anodes. The finished copper cathodes are transported from the
electrolysis plant at Pori back to
the smelter at Harjavalta, where
they are re-used in the smelting
process to maximise the content
of extracted copper.
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
15
Guides make
all the difference
SOMEWHERE IN THIS DARK, SMOKE-FILLED HOUSE IN LIIKAVAARA THERE ARE
FIVE PEOPLE. AITIK’S GUIDES PUT ON MASKS AND BREATHING APPARATUS.
THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE CLEAR: THEY MUST ENTER THE HOUSE AND LOCATE
ALL FIVE PEOPLE.
TEXT AND PHOTO:
CATRINE JOHANSSON LANTTO
We aren’t familiar
with all the
buildings at Aitik,
and so having
guides with site
knowledge is
ideal.
16
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
simon persson usually works on
the crushers at Aitik’s concentrator,
but this morning he is one of four
guides who will enter a smokefilled house in pairs and locate five
‘people’. In fact, the people will be
three cones, one mannequin and
one actual person. Drills like this
one are part of a guide’s training.
“It feels a little strange at first
when you’re new. You have to
become comfortable with the situation and the equipment, but once
you’ve been doing it a while, you
get used to it,” says Simon, who
has been a guide at Aitik for seven
years now.
A guide’s primary role is actually
neither smoke-diving nor saving
lives. A guide should also not enter
an area where a fire is burning,
but should be on site to lead the
emergency services through Aitik’s
extensive premises. If the alarm
goes off, it takes almost 20 minutes for the emergency services to
arrive. If they then have to wait for
a situation report or to get their
bearings, a lot of valuable time is
lost.
“The people who know the best
route are the ones who work here.
The primary role of the guides is
to use that knowledge to guide the
emergency services. The guides
minimise the response time on site
and can save vital seconds when it
matters,” says Robert Wennström,
the coordination manager for
Aitik’s guides.
The idea is that there should be
at least one or two guides in every
shift team. It is crucial that they
understand how the emergency
services work, and so five times a
year they receive training in lifesaving skills, search techniques and
basic smoke-diving.
“The guides are a huge asset.
We aren’t familiar with all the
buildings at Aitik, and so having guides with site knowledge is
ideal. Normally, they don’t need
to handle hoses and the like, but
it’s a good idea for them to receive
training so that they understand
how we think and operate,” says
fireman Jonas Larsson from the
Gällivare fire station.
a good guide
you have to have a good sense of
locality and local knowledge. The
equipment is also quite heavy, the
breathing apparatus alone weighs
approximately 12-13 kilos. This,
in order to be
READY TO
SAVE LIVES
WHAT DOES A GUIDE DO?
When it comes to smoke and chemical diving to save lives, tackle fires,
etc., Boliden’s Swedish mines rely on the local emergency services.
However, emergency service personnel rarely feel at home in our environments, and so to make their work easier, each mining area appoints
a number of guides.
The primary role of a guide is to show the emergency services the way
to the scene of an accident and to carry out brief initial rescue efforts
without risk to their own safety. They may also be assigned specific duties in an emergency situation, such as closing valves, for example.
to guarantee safety, the Kylylahti mine has a rescue team,
whose 15 members also work at the mine. The team has access
to smoke-diving apparatus, fire-fighting equipment, rescue
equipment and an ambulance.
One of the team members is Tero Kaltiainen, a safety manager at Kylylahti. He is responsible for organising the team’s
drills, and for checking and maintaining protective equipment, rescue equipment and protected objects.
“We train to deal with the most likely accidents, such as
traffic accidents, fires and illness. Each year we also conduct
a very realistic drill together with the emergency services that
simulates real-life situations,” explains Tero.
Last autumn Kylylahti received a visit from experts from
the emergency services who specialise in dealing with explosives, rope rescues, and demanding and unusual accident sites.
This specialist team will continue to visit the mine every six
months.
To become a guide, you must be fully fit and have a good physical capacity for work, as well as be able to work calmly in difficult situations.
Guides receive regular health checks to ensure this is the case. Good
local knowledge is also very important.
Anyone appointed as a guide must complete theoretical and practical
training, preferably arranged by the emergency services. Guides must
also regularly take part in drills, both internally and together with the
emergency services.
combined with heat, smoke,
adrenaline and poor visibility,
demands good physical fitness.
You should also be a calm and
rational person, bearing in mind
you have to search through smoke
to locate people.
“This job tests all your senses
and your memory. You have to be
able to remember exactly where
you have been,” explains Nils
Ehrensky, who has been a guide
for two years.
the guides work on a voluntary
basis alongside their usual job.
Sometimes this means that they
have to come in for training during their weeks off, which can be
tough after working a long shift.
However, their role is an important one and can mean all the dif-
ference between success or failure
in the event of a fire.
This time the drill at Liikavaara
used so-called ‘cold smoke’. This
means that the house is only
filled with smoke from a smoke
machine, but the feeling of entering a building without knowing
precisely in advance how it will
look inside and where the people
who need rescuing are is still an
important experience.
“It is a challenge, like your own
form of personal development.
What is more, these are skills that
can help you not just at work,
but also at home,” says Simon
Henriksson, who has been a guide
for four years.
Tero Kaltiainen, a safety manager at the
Kylylahti mine, is a member of the mine’s
rescue team. Here he is during a drill
wearing full protective kit.
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
17
When major repairs
are needed there
can be a lot of
people working on
the same machine.
Ove Nilsson, a
maintenance planner
and coordination
manager at
Garpenberg, with
the lock box used
to ensure the safe
disconnection of
power.
New procedure for
safe disconnection of power
TEXT: MONIKA NILSSON
PHOTO: SAMI ILBÄCKS
The new concentrator at Garpenberg was commissioned a little over a year ago.
There’s new machinery to get used to, but also new risks to consider. A new
locking procedure is making work safer.
“the
risks are especially high during our maintenance stoppages,
when there is a lot of pressure on activities. That is why we have introduced improved ‘lockout/tagout procedures’, which ensure that all
machines are disconnected from the power and are thus safe to work
on,” explains Ove Nilsson, a maintenance planner at the concentrator in
Garpenberg.
Once a month the plant has a 12-hour maintenance stoppage, and
once a year there is a major week-long stoppage to enable the various
parts of the system to be maintained and repaired.
“The number of staff increases significantly during these stoppages, and
some people will be working here for the first time, with a lot of different
activities going on around them. The ‘lockout/tagout procedure’ increases
safety and means that everyone has their own personal padlock that they
use to lock the machine’s switch. The lock prevents the machine from
moving in any way and gives all employees control over their personal
safety. It also enables supervisors to see more easily who is working on
what and where,” continues Ove.
Special ‘lockout/tagout’
As everyone locks the switch for their particular working area, you can
end up with a lot of padlocks on the same machine, and the machine
cannot be re-started until all the padlocks have been removed.
“I think the most padlocks we’ve ever had at one time is 1,200, which
led to us coming up with a procedure that we call ‘special lockout/tagout’.
This is implemented when there are a lot of people working on the same
18
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
machine and the equipment needs to be locked in a number of places. In
this case, the supervisor and a safety representative lock all the switches
on the machine. The keys are then put in a special lock box which everyone locks with their personal padlock. Only when everyone has completed their work and removed their padlock from the box, can the supervisor and safety representative finally unlock the switches,” he says.
Before, during and after a stoppage
Ove Nilsson and the other maintenance planners carefully plan the
maintenance stoppages several weeks in advance. They schedule the work
and ensure that all risk analyses and risk reduction measures are carried
out, that evacuation and rescue plans are put in place, and that there are
descriptions of all ‘lockout/tagout activities’. They also ensure that everyone involved in the work has the necessary skills and protective equipment and that spare parts are available.
“Safety is paramount at each and every stage. We have nearly ten
coordination meetings prior to a stoppage, at which both employees and
contractors are present. During the stoppage, we also hold daily dialogue
meetings, where we go through the day’s work and any risks, as well as
who will be working where. The safety representatives carry out daily
safety inspections and we document all work in order to be able to provide regular evaluations and summaries once the stoppage is over. We are
constantly developing our safety procedures and the aim is to always be
one step ahead,” concludes Ove.
BETTER CONTROL
OF CHEMICALS
At Kokkola better chemicals management has
improved safety and taken logistics to a new level.
kokkola’s production processes
require large quantities of chemicals.
Requirements for safe storage of these
chemicals have been tightened by the
authorities, and even within the operation there were calls to improve storage.
“As our production processes have
developed and become more varied,
so demand for various chemicals has
increased, but our storage capacity
was no longer adequate. Furthermore,
production experienced problems with
chemicals being stored outside reacting
to the weather,” says Timo Hyyppä, the
warehouse supervisor.
In addition to increasing environmental safety and safeguarding production,
the operation also wanted to improve
its logistics. How can chemicals be
unpacked and loaded as efficiently and
safely as possible? How can we avoid
storing chemicals in different locations
and on shelves at central stores? What
are the requirements of production? In
short: what is the most appropriate way
of storing chemicals? To find out, the
decision was taken to implement a development programme that has now been
concluded.
The first step was to acquire an Atexapproved storage container for combustible chemicals, so that these could be
moved out of central stores. A second
major improvement was the new asphalted fabric-covered hall, which tends to be
used for chemicals that production uses
in large quantities.
Timo is particularly pleased with a
Timo Hyyppä and Manu Kerola with equipment
that can limit and absorb any chemical leak. The
warehouse floor is also fitted with collection sumps.
renovated storage area used for all liquid
chemicals that must be stored somewhere
warm.
“Here we have a cabinet for dealing
with leaks, and sumps in the floor to
collect any leaks. The premises are fitted
with automatic doors and monitoring to
ensure that the chemicals do not become
too cold.”
The store is well-lit and the shelves are
clearly labelled. Furthermore, the process
of collecting the chemical tanks has been
streamlined and made as safe as possible.
“When the departments order chemicals from the store, the tanks are transferred to the collection point, where they
can be collected safely,” explains logistician Manu Kerola.
TEXT AND
PHOTO: MAARIT
FRILUND
The chemical tanks
are well-organised
and stored on shelves.
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
19
BENTE GRANDE
ODDA’S
ENVIRONMENTAL
COORDINATOR
Preventing
discharges
sørfjord, which surrounds
Odda, is subject to constant monitoring and is one of the
world’s most analysed fjord systems. These
analyses look at emissions and discharges into
air and water, among other factors.
When it comes to quality and safety, there
are established systems for continuously training employees, but when it comes to preventing
and managing emissions and discharges, getting
the organisation into shape in the same way is
more difficult. The industrial area’s rescue team
organises drills that include dealing with emissions and discharges, but preventive efforts are
hard to practise without simulations.
So what sort of knowledge does the average
employee have about discharge and emission
risks and the possible consequences? We asked
process operator Rolf Olsen and Odda’s environmental coordinator Bente Grande.
“I think we know a great deal about what can
cause discharges and emissions and how we can
avoid this happening. That wasn’t always the
case, but we now have much better control and
take a more active approach to maintenance.
We have monitors which alert us if the values
exceed set levels, and if this happens, we take
immediate action. The same is true for the
pipes for the underground cavities, where we
monitor the flows both in and out in order to
detect any leaks,” says Rolf.
“We use the same methods to prevent discharges and emissions as for all other
safety work. We review and
record potential risks prior to
each work element, including the risk of discharges
or emissions. The skill lies
in having the right knowledge and being willing and
able to use it, and that’s
coming into play now as we
establish a culture where safety
comes first,” says Bente.
ROLF OLSEN
PROCESS OPERATOR,
ODDA
20
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
FOCUS ON ENV
During the autumn Harjavalta has been working hard
to identify environmental risks within activities.
has been identifying
environmental risks using extensive systems
audits and assessments on a case-by-case basis
for some time. As a result of the process for
obtaining a new environmental permit, during
the autumn there was a systematic survey of
the environmental risks present at the various
departments.
This survey took the form of workshops,
with participants from production, maintenance and the environmental departments.
The work was led by an external consultant
and the aim was to identify both risks and
suitable controls. It was also decided that the
survey should be kept up to date and be submitted to the authorities for any additional
measures.
“During the audit, we assigned each risk we
identified to a specific category, based on how
likely and serious the risk is. Considerations
boliden harjavalta
included environmental impact, scope, media
attention, and permit and legal requirements.
Participants then also produced proposals
for how the risks could be reduced,” explains
Harjavalta’s environmental manager HannaLeena Heikkilä.
not only the risks
present within production, but also risks
associated with landfill sites for copper slag,
granulated nickel slag and ferric arsenate, as
well as contamination of ground water and
surface water.
“The workshops provided us with an excellent opportunity to get together and discuss
the operation’s environmental risks. Most
people are used to assessing safety risks, but
we’ve never before paid so much attention to
environmental risks,” says Hanna-Leena.
the process assessed
Tara is undertaking two pilot scale wetland experiments to achieve sulphate and metal reduction in effluent waters.
TEXT: HANNA-LEENA HEIKKILÄ PHOTO: KIRSI KYYTSÖNEN AND FANNI MARTTI
NVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Risk audits were carried out at sites including the water treatment plant. The photo shows (from left) business director
Tuula Liukko and project manager Janne Kekkonen from Ramboll Finland Oy, and environmental engineers Fanni Martti
and Vilma Skinnari from Boliden Harjavalta.
Jyri Aho from Ramboll Finland Oy took samples
from five wells, from which water runs into the
cooling water outlet. The samples were analysed to
determine the levels of, among other things, metals
and hydrocarbons from oil.
Wetland experiments for
improved water treatment
Tara is currently investigating the possibilities of using an
integrated constructed wetland to achieve a long term water
treatment solution.
tara is currently investigating the possibilities
for an integrated constructed wetland, as part of
the water treatment process post closure at the
tailing storage facility. The key parameters requiring treatment are zinc, lead, nickel, manganese,
aluminium, magnesium and ammonia. The tailings
runoff water is also characterised by its high concentrations of sulphate (SO4).
The main areas for this project are the two main
contaminated water streams which require management both in the medium and in the long-term.
The first concerns the seepage of water through the
tailing storage facility embankments, which is then
collected by an interceptor channel. The second
area is the runoff water from the soil cap, which
will be placed on the tailings surface once the fil-
ling process has stopped.
Every integrated constructed wetland has a site
specific design that strives to optimally achieve a
balance with nature by encouraging natural species
to live there. The primary vegetation types used are
emergent plant species (reeds) that evolved to enable their roots to successfully grow in soils with no
available or limited oxygen.
Tara is undertaking two separate pilot scale
wetland experiments investigating two divergent
methods to achieve similar goals, namely, Sulphate
and Metal reduction in effluent waters. The results
to date have proven very encouraging and provide
a degree of confidence that this approach will
provide a sustainable, long term water treatment
solution.
TEXT AND PHOTO:
OLIVER FITZSIMONS
Facts
WHAT IS AN INTE­GRATED
CONSTRUCTED WETLAND?
An integrated constructed wetland
is a shallow surface flow wetland,
which mimics the role and structure
of naturally occurring wetlands. Such
artificially constructed vegetated
wetland ecosystems have proven
effective in cleansing water of a wide
range of nutrients and pollutants.
The systems have shallow water
depths and are densely vegetated
with appropriate emergent plant species to intercept and cleanse throughflowing water. Treatment is achieved
through a combination of physical,
chemical and biological processes.
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
21
TEXT AND
PHOTO: CATRINE
JOHANSSON
LANTTO
Flying high
LAST SUMMER BOLIDEN PURCHASED A DRONE TO MAKE SURVEYING
OPEN-PIT MINES AND OTHER LARGE TRACTS OF LAND EASIER.
the possibilities offered by drones, or UAVs
(Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to give them their proper
title, are numerous. Initially they were used by the
military for reconnaissance, transport and raids, but as
the technology developed and became more accessible,
the areas of applications for drones also grew. Today,
they are used regularly in any number of non-military
applications, particularly within the mining industry
with its large tracts of land.
“At Boliden we use the drone predominantly to
photograph areas that would otherwise be too large to
cover using traditional means. The images, or the 3D
model that is produced using them, is used for exploration or for updating maps or performing volume
calculations,” says Shane Leighton, a development
engineer at Boliden Mines’ engineering department
and the project manager for Boliden’s UAV.
the design of Boliden’s drone, a e-Bee RTK, is deceptively simple. The streamlined shape of the body and
the detachable wings are made from a styrofoam-like
material, and the total weight, including the camera
and battery, is therefore just 730 grams. On the one
hand, this makes it very portable. Disassembled it
can fit into a specially-built box that can be packed in
normal hand luggage. The low weight also means that
it is easy to handle. You can simply pick the drone up,
shake it three times and throw it up into the air. On
the other hand, the light weight of this drone makes it
vulnerable to the wind and weather.
“It can withstand wind speeds of up to 12 m/s, but
the stronger the wind, the more difficult it becomes
to manoeuvre,” says Rickard Enér, a consulting UAV
pilot from Etteplan.
The pilot maps out the required flight path using a
tablet or laptop, a small modem and downloaded sat-
22
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
ellite maps. Once the drone is in the air, the pilot can
then follow its path and monitor its technical status
on screen. Technically, the drone can achieve a flying
altitude of almost 1,000 metres, but very few ever fly
at these heights. The reason for this is the permits that
are required.
“According to current permits for this unit, the
maximum altitude is line of sight, i.e. approx. 300400 metres up,” says Rickard Enér.
The flying altitude also affects the quality of the
images that the specially-designed camera captures.
With 18.2 megapixels and a 32 GB memory card, it
has the capacity to take hundreds of photos during a
flight. It therefore has enormous potential, but there
are of course limits.
“The main limiting factor is the lithium-polymer
battery. It is designed to provide as much power as
possible for a short period, which makes it ideal for
this UAV, which can fly for about 35-40 minutes
before needing to be recharged. However, the battery
can be quite sensitive. Its cells can swell up, which
reduces the power output, and in a worst case scenario
the cells can become damaged and catch fire. The
batteries are relatively easy to replace though, and the
UAV can be back in the air within ten minutes of
replacing the battery,” says Shane.
He is convinced that the drone will be a major
asset, helping to simplify the process of surveying
mining and exploration areas, and making it more
efficient. The idea is for Boliden’s units to be able to
book the UAV at a reduced cost for specific assignments, with access to help from a trained pilot.
“For the time being we’re employing external consultants to fly the UAV, but we would like to have our
own trained pilots soon,” concludes Shane.
Technically, the drone can fly as high
as 1,000 metres, but the maximum
altitude according to current permits is
200-400 metres. The photo shows the
new equipment being tested by Douglas
Rydberg from consultancy firm Etteplan.
BOLIDEN MAGAZINE/4/2015
23
Positioning ensures
better evacuation
WIRELESS NETWORK PROVIDED THE STARTING POINT.
A MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL IMPROVEMENT IN EMERGENCY
RESPONSE PLANNING AT KRISTINEBERG AND KANKBERG
IS DRAWING NEARER.
Huvudrampen
TEXT: EVELINA LÖÖV
PHOTO: MOBILARIS
A4
A4
880
verkstad
L-ort
B-ort
B-ort
Matsal
M5
UW
Västra
M2
Transport
Transportort
M3
J-ramp
J-ramp
Kristineberg and
Kankberg have wireless networks, it is possible
to see exactly where machinery and personnel are on a 3D map. An evacuation function
is now being developed that the operator can
activate in an emergency. The system, called
Mobilaris, then peels away all productionrelated information, leaving just the people and
rescue chambers visible.
In this new view, people are automatically
sorted into three categories: red, yellow and
green. This enables us to direct efforts to helping those people who are in the mine during a
fire, for example.
“Red indicates that a person has not been
alerted to the danger. In this case, a runner is
sent out to warn the employee. Yellow means a
person has been alerted, but has not acknowledged. If this happens, we ring the employee to
ensure that he or she has understood the alarm
and is proceeding to a rescue chamber. Green
now that the mines at
means that a person has received and acknowledged the alert, and we can follow them on the
system until they reach the rescue chamber,”
explains Samuel Bäckman, a work environment
development engineer at Boliden Mines.
Cannot replace guides
In addition to being able to see where employees are, the map itself is also a useful tool for
the emergency services. When they enter a
mine, they need to know where they are going.
Currently, they are provided with a guide and
folders with paper drawings.
“The existing paper drawings can be difficult
to interpret if you’re not used to them, even
if someone explains them to you. A 3D view
where you can see the route you need to take
to find the person in distress makes things a lot
easier and also saves time. However, it’s important to point out that this function cannot
replace our guides,” stresses Samuel.
There is a risk of becoming dependent on
digital functions, which is an issue discussed
during development of the software.
“The basic idea is that a successful evacuation
must be possible even if the system goes down.
But clearly it is the case that the more digital
we become, the more robust systems have to be,
and we make allowance for that,” says Samuel.
Autumn testing
The function has been developed in collaboration between Mobilaris and the departments for
systems technology and work environment. The
aim is for it to be commissioned at the start of
next year. Before then, however, operators must
receive simulator training in how to use the
evacuation function.
In future, the evacuation function and the
system as a whole may be available in all mines
with a wireless network.