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TRANSCRIPT
Will Braid 461028
ZAA203 Assessment Two
DESCRIPTION
We travelled to Savage River Mine, owned by Grange Resources, within the Tarkine region of
Tasmania’s North West. A pristine wilderness with a mine buried in the middle of it. The mine
was operating before the area was declared a national park and steps are in place to ensure the
wilderness surrounding the site remains as it should.
We went for an induction, covering safety, environmental factors and an understanding of the
inherent dangers of being of a site.
FEELING
My initial feeling when we headed onto the site was to marvel at the scale of the mine. The old
saying that “everything is bigger in Texas”
could be said of Tasmania’s wild West
Coast. From the size of the trucks to the
sheer scale of the open cut mine itself was
amazing. To give you a feel, the top
of what is known as North Pit
(pictured above) is about 300m
above sea level, the bottom of the pit
is about 15m below sea level.
Another example if the massive
pipeline that transports the iron ore
to Port Latta. At one point, where it
crossed Savage River itself, there is a
span of pipe from one side of the
gorge to the other of 300m, about
150m above the river held up with
six wore ropes about 450m long each
(pictured right). A great and
dangerous site for base jumping with
cameras on either end to catch would be adrenalin junkies in the act for prosecution for
trespass.
I got a good feeling about the key three drivers of project management – time, money and
quality. I also learned about the three “W’s” which are a brilliant way to check off milestones in
projects. The three W’s are who, what and when. These are key to communication channels
after project launch (Skalicky et al. 2017).
EVALUATION
The key item I evaluated was the safety rocedures of strategic planning. Every project is
carefully and methodically planned with adherence to the Zero Harm ethos. This includes
everything from vehicles having flashing orange lights, headlights on, personal protective
equipment and procedures for just about every operation of the mine. Project managers have
workplace health and safety at the top of their list when it comes to scoping and developing a
plan. WH&S is so high up on the list that new technology is being used including a $1m
simulator for driver training. Technology is increasing the level of safety for workers in mines
worldwide (Horberry, 2012).
I evaluated that everything done on site is planned to within and inch of its life.
We learned that there are three key drivers of projects being time, money and quality. Each
project is beholden to at least two of these measures. A project based on time is usually at the
expense of money meaning that it is all about getting the project done on time. Often overtime
is used and paid form for staff to keep the project moving. A project based on money is usually
at the expense of quality, Staff will normally not work overtime to keep costs down and time is
impacted as the project does not keep rattling along. A project based on quality will usually be
at the expense of time. Money is not usually an issue with this type of project and time is at risk
of blowing out as staff work slower with greater precision.
Using the three W’s mentioned above, project managers track who is to complete a certain task
in the project, what the task is and when it is due to be competed. In a general reporting sense,
each “who” will report “when” he has completed the “what” so the project can continue to be
mapped as ahead of schedule, on track or behind schedule.
ANALYSIS
My analysis is that that
workplace health and
safety has come a long way
in the last 20 years. Where
previously people could
smoke in crib rooms, not
wear hard hats and safety
boots were optional, now,
through careful and considered project management, risk is identified, evaluated, mitigated or
removed and reflected upon at the end of a project. It is a major part of the scoping process
initially and the review process of every project.
My analysis also includes the three W’s as a brilliant way to keep track of any project. The use
of a Gantt Chart (pictured right) to monitor these three key aspects (Sharon and Dori, 2017).
CONCUSION
My main conclusion from our visit is, apart from that he road in and out is very windy and not
particularly safe, is that project managers are very detailed in their work. Be it human resource
allocation, safety, plant and equipment monitoring and maintenance, project managers are
responsible for delivering projects on time and on budget.
Project managers monitoring throughput using the three W’s and accompanying charts, sticking
to the key drivers as well as general day to day monitoring and reporting set themselves up for
success through careful scoping and planning prior to the commencement of each project.
References
Jiří, S, Jiří, V, Marek, Č, & Martin, J 2017, 'Project as a System and its Management', Acta Informatica
Pragensia, Vol 6, Iss 1, Pp 4-19 (2017), 1, p. 4, Directory of Open Access Journals, EBSCOhost, viewed
31 August 2018.
Horberry, T, 2012, 'The Health and Safety Benefits of New Technologies in Mining: A Review and
Strategy for Designing and Deploying Effective User-Centred Systems', Minerals, Vol 2, Iss 4, Pp 417-
425 (2012), 4, p. 417, Directory of Open Access Journals, EBSCOhost, viewed 31 August 2018.
Sharon, A, & Dori, D, 2017, 'Model-Based Project-Product Lifecycle Management and Gantt Chart
Models: A Comparative Study', Systems Engineering, 20, 5, p. 447-466, Scopus®, EBSCOhost, viewed
31 August 2018.