MESA WA 2024 – HIGHLIGHTS

Daniel and Chris want to the conference as the Corporate Sponsor. It was a great conference, if not the best yet. The topics covered were varied and very well presented. Participants had plenty to think about and take back to their workplaces. Chris provides the following summary from his perspective on important topics:

  • Peter Gordon opened the 2 days and one important thing he said was “Unwavering attention to safety.”
  • Patrick Byrne discussed the importance of adequate supervision and looking after the inexperienced.
  • Roy Zylstra discussed incidents and the lack of awareness of electrical hazards for non-electrical workers.
  • Geoff Devin and Kylee Stewartd talked about battery electric earth moving equipment and their battery chargers being up to 3.5 MW but they go as high as 6 MW. This is a lot of green energy just for one truck that is needed to truly decarbonise.
  • Dale West spoke on challenges with arc flash and mentioned when operating to consider the effects of what is occurring. This is especially important e.g. closing an earth switch with the supply still on.
  • Mark Pulsinelli talked about predictive maintenance and failure of switchboards. He mentioned torquing connections and this important to prevent problems into the future.
  • Amy Douglas talked about things like RUOK and to consider all staff’s well being.
  • John Henderson spoke about lithium-ion battery fires and how fire blankets on cars don’t quench the fire but simply give time to evacuate and perhaps move other cars from the area. Other nearby objects can be cooled with water until the battery ‘burns out’.
  • Aman Pannu and Sakeena Dawood spoke about the uses of robots for tasks such as thermal imaging of substations. Perhaps they have some use in fire investigations as well but ‘trip’ hazards or objects and toxins may be issues.
  • Todd Bell discussed the regulatory focus in mining and this is so important to help ensure safety at mine sites.
  • Amand Cletus suggested that presence detectors could be used in switchrooms to prevent localised switching when someone is in the room. What a great idea!
  • Bill Schlesinger and Justin Harris mentioned that mining trucks as lightning storms approach could be warned with geo-spatial detectors if they deviate outside the protected zone.
  • Brad Ness, a survivor of a workplace incident and disabled Olympian, talked about the ripple effect of workplace incidents. He also discussed giving trainees/rookies a voice, leading by example, communicating, have a belief in what you are doing and treating others with respect.

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