The safety of our people – our employees and contractors – is always our number one priority and part of our Zero Harm safety goal.  

Our Dust Management Framework  

Boral takes very seriously our commitments and responsibilities to manage dust across all of our sites.  

We strive to lead the way through a comprehensive dust management framework informed by our ongoing work with specialists and regulators to help ensure we are using modern management practices and dust control technologies to keep our people safe and healthy while at work.  

This includes occupational hygiene monitoring and personal health surveillance. Like many in our industry and related industries, monitoring of respirable dust (RD) and respirable crystalline silica (RCS) is an established practice in place for many years. 

At Boral, we undertake static dust monitoring, personal exposure monitoring as well as regular environmental (boundary) monitoring at relevant sites.  

Static dust monitoring and personal exposure monitoring helps us to better understand where potential risks to our people exist and if additional measures are required. Health surveillance includes respiratory function tests and chest x-rays by a specialist radiologist accredited in occupational lung health. Under current regulations, health surveillance must be conducted at least every five years.  

All Queensland mine and quarry sites are required to submit respirable dust and respirable crystalline silica sampling results to the Queensland Mines Inspectorate. 

We continue to monitor and review our dust management approach and will work collaboratively with regulators and government to make sure our controls meet and, where possible, exceed required standards to safeguard the health and safety of our people. 

Dust mitigation measures  

Boral understands that dust from our operations can cause a nuisance or impact residents. Our dust monitoring helps us to ensure air quality meets health and safety standards, identifies potential health risks, ensures regulatory compliance, and most importantly allows us to implement measures to reduce the environmental and nuisance impacts.  

Over the lifetime of the two proposed projects a number of dust controls will be rigorously implemented to ensure that site activities do not lead to offsite nuisance and health impacts. 

These include: 

• Maintaining vegetation along our property boundary and only clearing areas required for safe operation. 

• Dust monitoring at site boundaries and personal exposure monitoring for staff. 

• Rehabilitating areas no longer required for quarrying. 

• Implementing controls such as dust suppression and extraction systems on the processing plant, crushers and conveyors. 

• Fixed sprinkler system on stockpiles. 

• Use of water trucks and dust supressing agents to wet down roads and pads while the quarry is operational.  

• Drill rig is fitted with a dust collector. 

• The main quarry access road, internal access road from intersection to car park and the weighbridge area will be sealed. 

• The majority of high turnover aggregate products will be despatched into trucks from overhead load out bins with automated weigh-feeders to control product discharge. 

• All heavy vehicles will pass through wheel wash units before exiting the site.  

• A street sweeper will periodically sweep the internal roads and turnout areas to Old Coach Road and South Burleigh Roads.