--- title: "Stop-work and fatigue conversations for mine crews" description: "Pre-starts, stop-work calls and the fatigue conversation nobody wants. Practice shaped around a site's own procedures, for mine crews and for utilities." canonical: https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/industries/mining-resources --- [Our Work](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work) / [Industries](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/industries) # Most mining training is technical. Most incidents are not. The moments that decide a shift are a crew member who is too tired to say so, a pre-start where nobody raises the thing everyone can see, and the decision to stop work when stopping work is unpopular. Those are conversations, and they are rehearsable. Key takeaway Mining practice should make room for a crew member to raise a concern and a supervisor to respond. PTR would build those exchanges around the site's own procedures and working conditions. ## Start with the crew and the conversation For mining and resources, PTR would build practice around the pre-start, the handover and the decision to stop work. The [Metro Trains workplace program](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/case-studies/metro-trains-gender-equity) offers adjacent experience in facilitated inclusion training. A mining build would start with the crew, site procedures and supervisor review, with a debrief tied to the decisions being practised. > "This is especially beneficial in remote or rural areas where access to high-speed internet may be limited. With just a VR headset and power, users can engage in training that is as comprehensive and immersive as any online program." Simon Lowe CEO, People Tech Revolution, on VR training that runs offline. [The Cusp of a Revolution, Global Best Practice Group, October 2024](https://globalbestpracticegroup.com/airevolution/) Field networks and utilities ## The same crew, a longer drive between jobs The same conversations a mine site runs, with far more road between them. A pre-start rehearsed at the depot. ### From the depot gate to the remote job First light, a depot awning, and a supervisor facing one of the crew. Gas, water and power networks run the same conversations as a mine site, spread across a state: the pre-start, the stop-work call, and the thing a leader has to say out loud. PTR builds those, and the drive between them. The driving environment reintroduced at a controlled pace is delivered work for a [transport client](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/industries/transport-logistics), and the same scenarios carry into a field crew's ute. ## What practice looks like in mining and resources The pre-start, the night shift, the camp, and the call to stop. A pre-start toolbox talk in cold light. Stopping work when stopping work is unpopular. A supervisor rehearses fatigue checks beside the ute. A hard hat rests on the crib table. A worker stands outside her door at camp. The drill, and the breath after it. First light on the pad, before anything turns. A hazard is outlined during a processing-plant walk. The stopped belt, and the guard nobody mentioned. A headset wearer faces consoles during a handover. A trainer talks through the haul truck window. A raised hand that means stop. ## Questions a site asks before it commits a crew The questions that come up early, answered in the words they get asked in. One crew member, and the crew behind. ### Do we need headsets on site? No. The same conversation runs typed at the pre-start, or spoken out loud where it will actually be said, on gear the site already carries. The headset is the deepest version of the practice, not the ticket in. ### When does a crew do this, mid-shift? Underground, where the shift already is. Crouched at the face, or out loud mid-drive between jobs. One exchange is short enough to fit the gap that is already there. A camp walkway, early. ### We are a utility, not a mine. Does any of this reach us? It is the same crew with a longer drive between jobs. Gas, water and power field networks run the same pre-start, the same stop-work call and the same fatigue conversation, from the depot gate out to a job nobody else can see. ### Our problem is the stop-work call nobody makes. Can practice change that? That is the one worth rehearsing. Stopping the job is a sentence somebody has to say out loud to a supervisor, in front of the crew, and it is far easier the second time than the first. This is where the first time happens. A hazard, outlined before anyone reaches it. ### Is it only conversations? No. The same build approach covers walking a plant before anyone sets foot in it, planning with the land alongside the people who hold it, and exploring a heritage site from survey data rather than by standing on it. ## Underground, where the shift already is A mining build would need to fit the site's training arrangements. The crew and safety team would decide where practice belongs and which devices are suitable. A written run at the rock face. ### Crouched at the face Written practice could give a crew member space to prepare a handover. Device choice and the place to use it would follow the site's safety rules. Saying it out loud mid-drive. ### Or out loud, mid-drive Spoken practice would focus on a clear exchange between crew and supervisor, with the conditions and review process agreed before the scenario is built. ## More training moments in mining and resources Drill pads, control desks, an outdoor switch cabinet and a planning screen. A drill trainee alone at the operator's stand. A technician using a wheelchair works at controls. A shutdown planner and maintenance supervisor review plans. A heritage liaison and planner view open ground. Two technicians stand beside an outdoor switch cabinet. A prosthetic-legged haul-truck operator stands beside a colleague. Two fitters, one senior, stand beside machinery. Two camp residents sit in the common room. A supervisor briefs an offsider beside the rig. A lead and operator watch the plant console. A liaison officer sits with a local elder. A safety officer briefs two residents at muster. A permits officer reviews a screen with colleagues. ## Through the headset in mining and resources An open-cut bench, a processing walkway, a pit edge, a maintenance yard. A loader operator stands alone on the bench. A plant inspector walks the processing walkway. A drill operator looks up at the mast. Two colleagues near the open pit edge. Three colleagues across a maintenance yard. Three colleagues near a control room doorway. Two colleagues stand apart in a control room. Two colleagues stand apart across the common area. ## Practice underground, and on the surface A written or spoken practice partner could support a pre-start or handover rehearsal. The site team would decide how it fits into training. Working out how to raise a concern. ### Typed, at the pre-start A written scenario would let someone try raising a hazard and consider the reply. The crew would help define what a useful response looks like. Saying it to a supervisor out loud. ### Spoken, where it will be said A spoken scenario would let someone rehearse an exchange with a supervisor. A debrief would connect the words used to the site's reporting and stop-work procedures. [AI practice partners](https://peopletechrevolution.com/ai/ai-roleplay-practice) Working in mining or resources? [Open the contact form](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/industries/mining-resources#contact) Ask our CEO Simon Lowe’s Digital Twin a question Related PTR work PTR's work with Google, Metro Trains and Etihad Airways offers examples of workplace conversation practice and facilitated debriefs. Mining scenarios would need their own co-design with crews and site leaders. [Our approach to immersive training](https://peopletechrevolution.com/xr) · [The PTR VR Library](https://peopletechrevolution.com/xr/ptr-vr-library) · [Case studies](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/case-studies) · [All industries](https://peopletechrevolution.com/work/industries) ## People shaping ideas in the room Workers, technicians and makers wearing headsets. A materials tester at the laboratory bench. A worker rehearses a factory sequence. A technician reaches toward floating rings. A worker rehearses raising a safety concern. A maker examines a glass form. A solar designer checks a panel layout. ## Planning with the land Amber patches beside young sorghum. ## More practice through the headset A supervisor and a facilitator, mid-gesture. Supervisor gestures beside a facilitator. ## Exploring heritage sites with data Colour volumes among sandstone arches.