Metals mining company First Quantum Minerals’ (FQM’s) subsidiary mining companies in Zambia, Kansanshi Mining and Kalumbila Minerals, together with gold and copper miner Barrick Gold’s nearby copper mine – Lumwana mine – have taken proactive steps to improve their mine safety procedures to ensure lives are saved during an emergency such as a fire, an explosion or a rockfall.
The move follows on Zambia Minister of Mines Christopher Yaluma’s recent emphasis on the importance of safety in the Zambian mining industry.
The three mining companies recently joined forces to compete in the Morris Rowe Safety Trophy Inter Mine Rescue Competition, which provides a safe environment for learning and sharing knowledge and realistic rescue scenarios that stimulate and challenge the teams, as well as an honest appraisal of their performance, emphasising professional development. The award is named after the GM of Sentinel mine at Kalumbila.
Kalumbila Minerals public relations coordinator Miriam Harmon explains that the top priority as a company is to ensure that Kalumbila has a safe and healthy workplace for its employees, with part of the safety improvement being rigorous, regular risk assessments to identify the safety hazards associated with operations and activities.
The competition comprises three categories covering the following scenarios: a vehicle fire near a building; vehicle collision and rescue; and rescuing an individual in a confined space. The rescue teams are expected to both rescue the victims – posed by volunteer actors – and extinguish the fire within 20 minutes.
Kansanshi mine won the competition based on their efforts and initiative in executing their duty within the specified time in two categories: vehicle collision and rescue and firefighting.
Harmon says it is “extremely important” that Kalumbila provide its employees with the necessary equipment and ensure that the company trains them in the most proficient and realistic manner. She says this will be followed up with regular meetings that will be held between all levels of management and employees, thereby continually strengthening safety at all the company’s operations.
During the competition, the teams were assessed in four areas of incident command, including technical tool operation, medical care and safety. Each team had 20 minutes in which to handle each scenario. Following the completion of their challenges, four assessors debriefed each team and provided them with positive and negative feedback, as well as the learning points.
Explaining the impact of lost time, resulting from a safety incident at a mine, Harmon says, “looking at the enormous investments that go into mining, [it is clear that] any halt in the production chain of our mines costs money which, in turn, negatively impacts royalty payments and taxes”
. Harmonsays Kalumbila will continue implementing measures to ensure its mining operations remain as efficient as possible, while also maintaining the safety of its employees. “We also need to put in place measures that can either reduce or prevent any accidents at both our Kansanshi and Kalumbila mines. This is why we introduced a fatigue monitoring system in the off-road haul trucks, aimed at addressing both fatigue and traffic-related issues during our mining operations.”