Abstract
A wide range of human reliability tools and methods are available to help identify and mitigate organizational and operational risks in mining and other industries, with each offering a unique framework for understanding and predicting socio-cognitive phenomena. The purpose of this presentation is to broaden the scope and depth that these frameworks provide to the field of research and industry, first by critically examining them through a transformational and social responsibility lens, and then by investigating how inner subjectivity, culture, and identity influence human behavior and group dynamics. A transdisciplinary approach to this research shapes the discourse that stakeholders’ consciousness is the locus of decision-making and planning in mine development, and thus, human reliability theory serves as a tool not only for prognosis or diagnosis but also to ensure equity, creativity, and growth in mine organizations and local communities. The term human reliability deals with the prevention and management of risks, while empowerment stands for the optimization and actualization of potential. The first targets the questions of what was and what is, and the other aspires to what could become. A combination of these two directions implies mining with responsibility and purpose. A science of consciousness integrates multiple knowledge in engineering, psychology, sociology, and environmental sciences to draw the systematic relationships and impacts between technical design, ecological preservation, and well-being. The methodologies that are derived emphasize both the outward and inner aspects of sustainable development and are essentially holistic and multi-worldviews to represent the diverse actors and dynamics in mine settings. Context-specific examples of applications in mining, focusing on social licensing and operational design, will be provided for different geographical locations where community challenges and opportunities are strongly present. Finally, the benefits of training and coaching techniques and strategies for human empowerment within and beyond mine organizations will be discussed, as these ideas and concepts have been successfully applied and tested in international mining institutions.