Identifying the Determinants of Reduced Dragline Operator Performance Over Time

The purpose of this report is to investigate factors that may impact the productivity and performance of dragline operators in the Australian Coal Industry. Central to the effective operation of the coal mine is the dragline and it is argued that as little as a 1% increase in dragline productivity can potentially generate an additional 700,000 tones of coal. The dragline operators has the most important impact on dragline productivity, however there is relatively little known about Australian dragline operators and factors that may impact on their performance. This research is important because it explores factors that may impact their behaviour and performance.

Previous research suggests that age may negatively impact performance and that dragline operator performance appears to decrease at an average reduction rate of 0.75%. If this is the case it could potentially amount to an enormous cost and have major maintenance and productivity implications for the Australian coal industry. Thus, in this research we explore the effects of age, tenure and experience on dragline performance. In addition we also investigate other organisational variables that may be related to productivity.

If we accept the position that a key part of the effective and efficient use of draglines is having highly skilled dragline operators, then assessing dragline operators' performance to determine efficiencies over time would appear paramount in establishing a competitive coal industry. The key objective of this project is to identify major drivers which are linked to individual operator performance and provide measures to manage them more effectively.