Mining Safety: What You Need to Know

What is mining safety? 

Mining safety refers to any measures taken to promote a mining team’s wellbeing and ensure they can work as safely, responsibly and efficiently as possible. Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) factors are potentially the most important measures to focus on at a mine site. 

The good news is that in recent decades, the number of fatalities per year has heavily decreased. This is in part due to stricter safety regulations and new technologies promoting safer processes and environments.

Yet, there are still many indirect factors that can have a direct impact on the safety of mine sites — meaning that vigilance and awareness are just as important as ever. 

Factors Affecting Mining Safety

Mining Labor Shortages

The cyclical nature of mining and high retirement rates from experienced workers means there are times in which interest doesn’t meet the demand for labor. Shortages of trained personnel can have a huge effect on the safety of a project team. “If you have a shortage of qualified and experienced personnel to operate heavy machinery, when incidents occur, often it’s due to the competence and (lack of) training/experience of the personnel,” explains Jason Dunn, Brunel mining safety expert. 

During these labor shortages that inevitably arise due to the ebb and flow of industry demand, it’s important to partner with an experienced workforce provider with a talent pool large enough to withstand global labor shortages. 

Mental Health

If a mining team is mentally unhealthy, this is a safety hazard. To be at their best, miners need to be in a fit mental and emotional state as well as physical. Mining companies should be willing to pay for resources such as counseling if it means keeping their teams healthy and able to work at top productivity. 

Proper Implementation of Mine Safety Appliances and Equipment 

It’s one thing to have new, modern safety management systems and advanced procedures to curb mining hazards — it’s another to make sure they’re actually implemented properly throughout all phases of a project. Procedures must be consistently followed each day — from leaders and engineers to crews, each team member must fully embed new safety habits into their daily routines and hold each other accountable. Everyone must participate! 

Complacency and Culture

If you’ve done something 100 times, it starts to become automatic — and you tend to start paying less attention as you do it. In mining, the reality is that it only takes one mindless mistake to cause widespread safety hazards for an entire team. Complacency is simply not an option. Vigilance must be a vital part of your team’s culture. From completing thorough risk assessments and reporting all near misses to taking note of all potential hazards, safety must always be on the mind, even during busy shifts or when your team is fighting fatigue. Are there disciplinary actions in place for unsafe behavior? Your project must promote a culture that safety takes a top priority in every situation. 

How are mines becoming safer? 

The shift from traditional to automated mining

Jason describes this shift as a “quick win” for mining safety: “With automated trucks, people can run trucks from inside buildings many hours away. This increases safety because it removes people from the line of fire operating machinery,” he said. These wireless, remote setups also remove the hazard from human error. 

From 3d printing and drones to autonomous vehicles and wearable technology, new data points can be captured in real time through a connected network. The insights from this data can help improve daily processes and planning to create even safer and more efficient environments. The potential downside of this shift is that it could mean less jobs available in the future because less people are needed, but any win for safety in the mining industry is a win for all. 

Enhanced Mining Training

Many mining companies are increasing not only the quality of their teams’ safety training, but also the frequency. Just as new workers need intensive safety training when they begin, mining veterans also need consistent safety refreshers. This is key to avoid complacency and ensure that everyone is always thinking about potential safety hazards in every situation.