Holistic behavioural change needed to ensure mining safety

To integrate safety into a mining company’s work routine, a holistic approach is required, says gold mining companyAngloGold Ashanti GM Francois Naude. 

He believes that safe work cannot be a campaign or a one-off initiative. “It is an intervention that requires a new mindset, a new set of skills, leading to a new organisational culture, which is supported by a user-friendly system.”

Naude emphasises that strong leadership is a prerequisite in all aspects of the intervention. He remarks that this requires a plan that is sequenced and executed over time, as “there is no quick fix”.

He explains that, owing to the nature of mining at depth, the mine is faced with many safety and health, challenges and a number of different models have been adopted over the past years with varying degrees of success.

He highlights that various mine occupational health and safety initiatives were undertaken to remove people from risk, such as fall-of-ground management, in-stope bolting and netting, mesh in the gullies,helmet, safety cap lamp and people detection systems installed on moving machinery.

These systems include risk management, the adoption of the international occupational health and safety management system specification OHSAS 18001, and a work management system to support planning and execution of work.