While the fundamental principle of mine safety is to remove health and safety risks to mine workers, mining safety practice may also focus on the reduction of risks to plant (machinery) together with the structure and orebody of the mine.

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A mining safety system therefore, is critical to the success of operations and is broadly defined within 10 main parameters.

 

1. Management

Key to defining all the other parameters, this ensures an overview of all the safety frameworks within a safety system including risk, environmental assessment and overall rules for various mitigating factors surrounding mine safety and precautions.

 

2. Leadership

This draws up a line of accountability and breaks the chain of command, into several hierarchical strata. This ensures responsibility for the safety framework carries accountability and consequences.

 

3. Performance Planning

Key to any safety framework will be a risk vs performance analysis, with the goals of the organisation on safety, balanced against the overall performance and output benchmarks. This ensures a sense of care, while simultaneously not harming profitability due to an over-cautious approach.

 

4. Implementation

Documentation and licensing - ensuring all safety operating systems, machinery and personnel follow the safety code by establishing a paper trail of acknowledgement and responsibility.

 

5. Risk Control

Clearly defining situational emergencies that may arise, along with possible solutions to mitigate them. These will also include hazard assessment. Both, in respect to areas of the mine and high output operational procedures. A methodology to identify new risks and document them is also established.

 

6. Communication

Building a line of consultation through the chain of command to identify, avoid and take action on practises that contribute to lower safety within the workforce

 

7. Competence

An analysis of safe behaviours, defining a minimum competency and then, creating training programs for the workforce to implement core behavioural safety structure.

 

 

8. Incident and investigation

A full implementation of the safety code, along with recorded documentation for safety mishaps and accidents, to prevent the reoccurrance of the same.

 

9. Emergency management

A thorough outline of emergency preparedness drills along with immediate response medical training.

 

10. Audit

A compilation of verification and inspection that credibly proves a methodical plan of action, taken to identify and isolate hazards by following the safety framework.