burden - in this context

English translation: emphasis

12:43 Nov 27, 2007
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Mining & Minerals / Gems
English term or phrase: burden - in this context
We will continue to develop new initiatives to best meet the HSEC Management Standards in these environments, whilst reducing the "burden" where our systems and process do not result in a safer workplace.

Could it mean "reducing the volume of production" ?

Context : mining company focusing on best places for future exploration.
HSEC = health, security environment communauty
nordiste
France
Local time: 11:38
Selected answer:emphasis
Explanation:
I don't think this is at all well worded in English, but I think it means:
We shall continue to develop new ideas as to how we can best conform to HSEC Management Standards in these environments. Where our existing systems and processes cannot be improved to make the workplace safer, we shall not increase production in these systems and processes, so that they will come to form a lower proportion of our overall production.


Selected response from:

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:38
Grading comment
thanks Jack, your answer helps me to understand the sentence.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
2 +5extra workload
Tony M
3 +1reducing the systems/processes
Marie-Hélène Hayles
3non-profitable activities
Ken Cox
2emphasis
Jack Doughty


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


20 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
reducing the systems/processes


Explanation:
It's not written very clearly, but like Tony I'm sure they're not talking about reducing the capacity - that would have no sense whatsoever. Improve safety by reducing your production capacity (and thus your turnover and profits)? It doesn't seem likely!

Given that safety procedures and processes are very time consuming, I think they mean that where such procedures have not resulted in any actual improvements to safety, they'll get rid of them (or revise them). Because there's no point wasting time on procedures that don't give you any return.

Marie-Hélène Hayles
Local time: 11:38
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Yes, exactly what I was thinking of!
53 mins
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25 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
emphasis


Explanation:
I don't think this is at all well worded in English, but I think it means:
We shall continue to develop new ideas as to how we can best conform to HSEC Management Standards in these environments. Where our existing systems and processes cannot be improved to make the workplace safer, we shall not increase production in these systems and processes, so that they will come to form a lower proportion of our overall production.




Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:38
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
thanks Jack, your answer helps me to understand the sentence.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Yes, I think that is exactly how I understand it too.

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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +5
burden
extra workload


Explanation:
My interpretation here is that they are saying they will develop new H&S initiatives, but will possibly discard some of the previous ones (which may be creating a lot of extra work or expenditure) where these measures are not proven to actually have a significant effect on improving safety.

It represents a 'burden' on the company because H&S measures often involve extra expenditure, or doing things with more people, or at a slower pace, or whatever.

Tony M
France
Local time: 11:38
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ken Cox: my understanding too, possibly with the slant suggested in my answer. The burden is not only on the company, but also on the individual employees, departments etc.
21 mins
  -> Thnaks, Ken! Yes, indeed, 'burden' in every sense of the word.

agree  Mehmet Hascan: reducing "heavy workload"
34 mins
  -> Thanks, Mehmet!

agree  Marie-Hélène Hayles
1 hr
  -> Merci, MHH !

agree  Michael Powers (PhD): After reading your answers and the others, I have concluded I was wrong and you are right - Mike :) // That's why we all love the language exercises we do on Proz: langague is dynamic, palpable and sometimes elusive - in one word, interesting!!
1 hr
  -> Thanks a lot, Mike — that's very generous of you! Though I'd prefer not to be 'right' if it means anyone else has to be 'wrong'... / Hear, hear, Mike — couldn't agree more! I love it!

agree  kmtext
18 hrs
  -> Thanks, KMT!
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56 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
non-profitable activities


Explanation:
Particulary if the quote marks are in the original, this is a pun in a mining context, where 'burden' is the designation for what has to be removed to extract or recover what you actually want (coal, ore, gems, etc.) but has no profitable value, and by extension the waste material resulting from such removal (also more specifically overburden, which is everything on top of what you want, such as a coal seam, ore seam, or gem seam).

Used figuratively, it would mean essentially non-profitable work that unavoidably accompanies profitable work.

sample refs:

Residues
Bunge’s diverse activities and operations
generate a variety of solid waste products. Bunge
Fertilizantes is the largest producer, and the waste
with the largest volume in the two mining units
(Araxá and Cajati) is mining burden (class II B).
In 2005, 16,800,000 tons of this material were
produced, compared to 17,023,937 tons in
2006. The material is placed in burden piles or
deposits, for which actions from the respective
rehabilitation plans for the previously mentioned
degraded areas were taken.
The Bunge Fertilizantes Cajati, Araxá,
Cubatão, Candeias, Rio Grande, Uberaba, and
Rondonópolis units produced, in 2006, in
addition to mining burden, approximately
2,860 tons of class I waste; 990,500 tons of
class II A waste; and 8,664,000 tons of class II
B waste, according to the Associação Brasileira
de Normas Técnicas (ABNT – Brazilian Technical
Standards Association NBR 10.004) classification.
The Cubatão, Rio Grande and Araxá units have
selective collection in place – the others are in the
installation phase.
www.bunge.com/US/en/media/Bunge_Sustainability_Report_Brazi...


Blasting strength is a direct function of density, other things being equal. Typical explosives for dry ground (ANFO) may have a blasthole density (specific gravity) of 0.8 to 1.3, while for wet ground (slurry or emulsion) it varies from 1.1 to 1.3. Developments in explosive technology make it possible to choose any density desired, within the given ranges.

For hard-rock open-pit mines, or backfill rock quarries, the burden between rows can vary from 25 to 40 blasthole diameters. Spacing between holes in a row can vary between 25 and 80 blasthole diameters.

To obtain optimum fragmentation and minimum overbreak for stripping hard rock open pits or quarrying rock fill, the burden should be about 25 times the bench blasthole diameter for ANFO and about 30 times the blasthole diameter for high explosives.
www.mining-journal.com/Mining_Explained.aspx

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Note added at 8 hrs (2007-11-27 21:10:38 GMT)
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Without the quote marks it probably isn't intended to be a pun (what a missed chance!), and I support Tony's answer.

Ken Cox
Local time: 11:38
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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