From Operating Procedures to Verified Critical Controls: A Risk-Assessment Framework for Mobile Equipment in Opencast Mines

Dumper, tipper and haul-truck operations in opencast mines expose workers to high-consequence hazards arising from vehicle mass, restricted visibility, mixed traffic, changing haul roads, dumping edges and human performance. This study develops an implementable risk-assessment framework that translates Indian mine-safety requirements and international evidence into operational controls and verification routines. A purposive integrative review of official DGMS, MSHA and NIOSH material and peer-reviewed research was combined with examination of the supplied risk-assessment-based safe operating procedure. The search was not systematic, and no incident-level dataset or formal quality appraisal was available. Sources were mapped to operating phase, hazard, control, verification, accountable role and learning indicator. The proposed framework covers six operating phases and six control domains. It assigns task HIRA to baseline screening, JSA/JHA to detailed high-risk steps, Bowtie to fatal-event pathways and critical controls, and FMEA/FMECA to equipment failure modes. It also specifies five verification modes and links critical controls to failure responses, owners and prospective indicators. The framework is sufficiently specified for site adaptation and prospective pilot evaluation; it has not been tested as an intervention or empirically validated.