Abstract
The global mining industry is struggling to reduce the number of workplace fatalities and North America is faced with the same struggle. In the United States the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) tracks and shares information on fatal incidents. This data supports the need to make a step change improvement. The results are not tracked across Canada however there is no doubt that the Canadian mining industry also needs to improve. Many years of focusing on Total Recordable Injury rate has not reduced the number of fatalities. In 2015 the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) introduced Critical Control Management. Many companies have adopted this practice however the implementation has not had a significant impact on the number of fatalities. Why is this?
dss+, formerly DuPont Sustainable Solutions, is leading a Mining Industry Serious Injury & Fatality (SIF) study group to share learnings and help accelerate the implementation of critical controls. There are 5 companies who are participating in this 10 month study. Through a series of face-to-face meetings and virtual discussions the group is sharing their learnings and challenges as they work to reduce SIF’s. The discussions will focus on topics such as leadership, safety culture and technology. One of the key topics for discussion is the implementation of Critical Control Verifications in a way that strengthens the safety culture. We would like to provide the conference with an update on this effort.