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Holistic behavioural change needed to ensure mining safety

28th October 2016

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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To integrate safety into a mining company’s work routine, a holistic approach is required, says gold mining company AngloGold 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”.

AngloGold Ashanti’s flagship mine in Southern Africa is the Mponeng gold mine, which is located in the Carletonville area of the North West. It mines gold within the West Wits gold basin and has been in operation for the past 30 years.

The Ventersdorp Contact Reef is mined at depths of up to 3.8 km. Mining started in 1986 and a deepening project from 109 Level to 120 Level was commissioned in 2001. An additional deepening project (Phase 1) from 120 Level to 126 Level was approved in 2007, and is currently in the ramp-up phase, with steady state planned for 2019.

The mine also has an approved project (Phase 2) that will mine the Carbon Leader Reef in the future. As a result, the mine has a future life of about 30 years, pending the successful execution of strategic initiatives and stability in the short and medium term.

“Similar to other mines, Mponeng faced numerous business challenges over the past five years, such as safety, labour unrest in 2012, financial challenges, ventilation and cooling, as well as a reduction of the mineable face length, owing to orebody challenges associated with geotechnical and geological complexity,” Naude points out.

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.

Naude remarks that AngloGold Ashanti has therefore adopted an operating model that removes miners from risky areas, ensures safety and risk management systems are in place and addresses employee behaviour.

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 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.

Naude comments that the employee behavioural component of these systems as a fundamental principle is that safety is an integral part of all work activities. “The employee is a catalyst in the execution of safe work. Therefore, work; the associated processes and methods; and how people perform are subjects of a planning and execution process at all levels of our company.”

He says that, to ensure the execution of safe work, it is critically important to deploy the right person to perform the right work, in the right way at the right time. Naude explains that understanding this requirement means that mine managers need to understand the role of people in the operation.

“This has to be supported and held in place by leadership, line ownership, accountability, performance management and systems for continuous improvement,” he concludes.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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