COPERSH

The Centre for Occupational, Public and Environmental Research in Safety and Health (COPERSH) is a research centre in the School of Health and Society. The vision of the Centre is to address new, emerging and complex health and safety problems in occupational, public and environmental settings through collaborative research with university and industry partners.

To achieve this vision COPERSH aims to

• Partner with industry, university and government to conduct high-quality leading-edge research that addresses current and future risks to occupational, public and environmental health and safety.
• Build research capacity in the occupational, public and environmental health and safety workforce to lead generational change in managing new and complex issues.
• Produce high quality employable graduates who can think in imaginative and creative ways to address occupational, public and environmental health and safety issues.

The Centre is currently undertaking a number of major research projects across a broad range of topics. These include;

Centralised management and real-time interpretation of emissions based maintenance data for diesel fleets
This project centres on the development of a complex data management system that allow the transmission of diesel engine emission analysis and key engine parameters to a centralised interpretative system. It also includes an assessment of the financial/economic/environmental/productivity gains to the industry from investing in an emission based maintenance program for diesel fleets.

3D facial modelling and recognition for automatic selection of worker respiratory protective equipment
This project aims to deliver a simple and effective means of matching the best available fit of a respirator to a worker’s facial features.

A near real-time sensing solution for Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) in underground crushers
This project aims to develop a near real-time sampling and analysis system to provide a visual and audible alarm to warn workers of potentially high exposures to RCS adjacent to underground ore crushers.

Innovative control solutions for Respirable Crystalline Silica to protect workers against exposure to silica
This project builds on current maintenance technologies to project educational material for specific activities so that a worker understands the safety measures that should be in place before commencing a specific activity.