Safe production is recognised across the mining industry as the benchmark of performance. The wellbeing and safety of mineworkers, therefore, must be the top priority for all role-players if the culture of zero harm is to be realised in the industry, says local health and wellness-focused business management consultancy Ergoways owner Dr Bernard van Vuuren.

He says that, although safety practitioners focus on procedures and systems, it is now commonly acknowledged that the key to safe production is embedding the right behaviours and culture in people’s minds.

This is supported by international research papers, such as the Leiden University Centre for Safety Research’s Dr Jop Groeneweg’s 2011 report entitled ‘Hazard Analysis: The Accident Causation Model’, which demonstrated that the majority of accidents are caused by individuals committing an unsafe act, generally one that they had been told to avoid and which had been explained to them, even where there were existing policies and procedures in place.

Van Vuuren says this has led to a more proactive approach in improving behaviours, safety awareness and mental toughness among workers.

However, he highlights that changing human behaviour and eliminating human error is not a simple process and there is no ‘one-stop, easy to apply’ solution in existence.

“Human behaviour is a complex phenomenon requiring a holistic approach to obtain positive results. To further move from compliance alone to best practice, various factors need to be addressed.”

Van Vuuren says these factors include, but are not limited to, ergonomic, psychosocial, cultural, physical and cognitive factors.

“Industry only in more recent times has acknowledged the importance of recognising workers as integrated beings, who are not only employees, but who have personal lives that involve family and civil society, who have faith systems and who have recreational and other needs.

“The complexity of health, wellness and safety issues further requires that employees need to be managed through an integrated framework. Unfortunately, in most companies, safety and wellness are two behavioural silos that are largely disconnected,” he states.

Van Vuuren believes that more cost-effective allocation of resources would result from identifying workers “at risk” through screenings, as this would lead to more focused interventions in addressing the factors involved.

He says that addressing these factors through several awareness and educational mediums remains a challenge, as companies need to move beyond traditional safety training, auditing, disciplinary action and reward structures.

Additionally, Van Vuuren highlights that various language, literacy and cultural barriers also exist, which the mining industry needs to address.

“The ultimate challenge is to communicate these principles to the workforce by teaching . . . new habits for them to adopt and understand, so that they can be safer and more productive at work to promote their overall engagement, wellbeing and behaviour,” he concludes.

Van Vuuren was speaking at the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy’s recent MineSafe conference, in Kempton Park.