Safety Culture In Mining – Industry Tips From The Coal Face
Tags: safety culture | mining australia | training Safety will always remain one of the top issues driving the mining industry. Every day in the news safety is mentioned in some capacity, it has hours dedicated to it in the form of training, discussion, coaching, equipment design and manufacturing, etc. Numerous conferences, seminars and online forums are dedicated to the topic. Recently a discussion on Linkedin’s Mining Australia group provoked many thoughts around this, so I’ve gathered together a few of them for you consider:
David Aloysius Segar, HSE Coach at FTSM noted his top three inhibitors in mining to world class safety practices:
“I have been a Safety Adviser for the past 17 years and have worked in many countries dealing with different nationals. During my years of safety professionalism I find that most of the people do not follow safety (not all, but some), for example, taking short cuts. A lot of workers are afraid to speak up, secondly being pressured by superiors and thirdly language barriers.”
Kalman Salgo, an experienced mining professional in the operations management – mining and processing remits, shared his thoughts based on experience across numerous companies including Newcrest, Lihir Gold and PT. Indo Muro Kencana:
“There are a couple of things that stand out on sites where one feels safe. The information must be simple. Speaking for myself I can only take in a couple (2, not 3 not 4 not 7) of the messages at a time. I have found that if you keep the message simple and really to the point it gets owned by the receiver and generally it is further developed. It is most rewarding when you see someone take the message and develop it further. Keeping it simple is something we all need to work on. We all (us old salts) need to get off our derriere and coach and mentor the workplace. They (the front line) are the ones designing/scheduling/producing/maintaining so we can feed our families as well. They are the ones who appreciate us getting involved and recognising them for their effort in keeping the company alive and prosperous. The more we get out there the more everyone understands the standards requested and understand that we really do put safety first. The CEO and COO can only connect with a very limited number at the front line for a limited time. Site Leaders have to connect with their sites (face to face, one on one, workplaces).”
John Morley, Business Development WA at Fire and Safety Australia Pty Ltd has experience going into many mines to help with safety and security training. His perspective aligned with Kalman’s:
“I agree with keeping the message simple and for those with the knowledge needing to coach and mentor. In this morning’s huddle where all of our trainers and support staff phone in from around the country our CEO released a new "Core Story" on confined space entries. The research shows some alarming results with the top 2 fatal mistakes around CSE being:
1. The prime causal factor for 92% of confined space fatalities in the last 15 years in WA was 'inadequate confined space entry training' and
2. Over 90% of confined space fatalities had 'inadequate supervisor knowledge and supervision' as the secondary cause of the fatality. We know these facts, though how effective are we in communicating the message, how do we improve the general awareness level to the point where the culture and the ownership changes? “
David Aloysius Segar, HSE Coach at FTSM noted his top three inhibitors in mining to world class safety practices:
“I have been a Safety Adviser for the past 17 years and have worked in many countries dealing with different nationals. During my years of safety professionalism I find that most of the people do not follow safety (not all, but some), for example, taking short cuts. A lot of workers are afraid to speak up, secondly being pressured by superiors and thirdly language barriers.”
Kalman Salgo, an experienced mining professional in the operations management – mining and processing remits, shared his thoughts based on experience across numerous companies including Newcrest, Lihir Gold and PT. Indo Muro Kencana:
“There are a couple of things that stand out on sites where one feels safe. The information must be simple. Speaking for myself I can only take in a couple (2, not 3 not 4 not 7) of the messages at a time. I have found that if you keep the message simple and really to the point it gets owned by the receiver and generally it is further developed. It is most rewarding when you see someone take the message and develop it further. Keeping it simple is something we all need to work on. We all (us old salts) need to get off our derriere and coach and mentor the workplace. They (the front line) are the ones designing/scheduling/producing/maintaining so we can feed our families as well. They are the ones who appreciate us getting involved and recognising them for their effort in keeping the company alive and prosperous. The more we get out there the more everyone understands the standards requested and understand that we really do put safety first. The CEO and COO can only connect with a very limited number at the front line for a limited time. Site Leaders have to connect with their sites (face to face, one on one, workplaces).”
John Morley, Business Development WA at Fire and Safety Australia Pty Ltd has experience going into many mines to help with safety and security training. His perspective aligned with Kalman’s:
“I agree with keeping the message simple and for those with the knowledge needing to coach and mentor. In this morning’s huddle where all of our trainers and support staff phone in from around the country our CEO released a new "Core Story" on confined space entries. The research shows some alarming results with the top 2 fatal mistakes around CSE being:
1. The prime causal factor for 92% of confined space fatalities in the last 15 years in WA was 'inadequate confined space entry training' and
2. Over 90% of confined space fatalities had 'inadequate supervisor knowledge and supervision' as the secondary cause of the fatality. We know these facts, though how effective are we in communicating the message, how do we improve the general awareness level to the point where the culture and the ownership changes? “
- 1o07f509c119a5eea7f6bccec6b635fcea.jpg
- j157f03c0980458212f99c97f9b45ed673.jpg
