Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill. Client – Oxiana Location – 135km SE Coober Pedy Status – Greenfield, startup.

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

Creating a Safety Culture

at Prominent Hill

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

Client – Oxiana

Location – 135km SE Coober Pedy

Status – Greenfield, startup

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

E

N

THE MINE

• Open Pit (final)1.4km x 1.2km x 510m deep

• Copper/Gold

• Strip ratio 6.25:1

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

THE CONTRACT – 6 YEARS

• Mobilize September 2006

• Start Mining 1st October

• Stage 1, Mining Infrastructure – Dec 2006

(completed)

• Stage 2, Ore to ROM – March 30 2008 (mine depth

100m)

• 40bcm in 18 months

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

Mine Infrastructure - WORKSHOP

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

THE EQUIPMENT

• Progressive Mobilization• Key Components

• 3 x Liebherr 996 Exc• 24 x CAT 793Ds

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

A big difference!

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

Another big difference !

100tonnes 135tonnes 225tonnes

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

At the Start - THIESS OBSERVATIONS

• Mining culture not widespread in SA

• Few experienced open pit mining operators

• Support in SA for large scale open pit mining limited

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

THIESS CONCLUSIONS !

Recruit 75% experienced operators

• Focus the recruiting of

operators outside SA

• Import mining knowledge

from outside SA

• Experienced management,

supervisory team to be

imported

25% SA

75% outside SA

Proposed employment distribution at Prominent Hill

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

RECRUITMENT REQUIREMENTS

• Overall Numbers – 150+ Staff

• Desire of Oxiana to maximise SA recruitment

• Oxiana sponsored trainees from Coober Pedy

• Required levels of experience

• Advertising

National press - “Crow Eaters come home”

State and regional press

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

RECRUITMENT REQUIREMENTS

High standards set from the start

• Candidates put through high level of scrutiny Reference checks

Medical, including drug and alcohol

Physio - full muscular skeletal

Psychological

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

RECRUITMENT OUTCOMES

• Poor response generally outside SA

• Huge interest in SA

• Successful candidates from SA - 89%

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

RECRUITMENT OUTCOMES

• Wide regional spread in SA

9% Northern

Region SA

33% Country SA 13% Coober Pedy

11%

Non

SA

34% Adelaide

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

RECRUITMENT OUTCOMESExperienced or not?• Only 23% judged to have

required level of experience

39% Limited or

nil Experience

38% Some Experience

23% Experienced

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

PROMINENT HILL AT THE START

• Very large open pit

• Very large mining equipment

• Critical targets

• High level of inexperienced operators

• New management/supervisory team

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

PROMINENT HILL AT THE START

What was the impact of these factors on safety?

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

WAS THIS A CRISIS?

No of Recordable

Injuries

No of Staff

on Site

Recordable Serious Incidents Oct-Mar

8

6

4

3

2

4

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

= LTI

= RWI

= MTI

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

EARLY OBSERVATIONS• Operators

Level of experience was not as planned

Level of information required to be absorbed by operators too

much• Training

Industry standards

Extent of “Greeny” levels

• Supervision

gave mixed messages

imported cultures an issue

• Morale & enthusiasm on site still high!

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

EARLY OBSERVATIONS

• Poor understanding of and application to procedures

• People believed they were doing the right thing for the

company – shortcuts !

• Too much information too quickly

• Heaps of enthusiasm

• Realisation “Rome not built in a day”

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

OUR CONCLUSIONS

• We needed to act immediately and

• Our ability to influence culture was at its highest

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

THE NEED FOR “INTERVENTION”

• Belief that changing behaviour was crucial

• Focus people on the consequence of choice

• Ensure our systems became entrenched

• Take advantage of good morale

• Re focus our training

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

ACTIONS AGREED

• Stronger, more measured application of training• Procedural• Hazards identification

• Mobilise senior safety professional• Senior management led “Day of Action”• Introduction of Training Simulator

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

THE DAY OF ACTION

What did we set out to do?• Demonstrated that management cared• Put a “line in the sand”• Look at the implications of behaviour & choice• Reinforced our ‘Safety Messages’

Safety is Everyone’s business Safety is not a choice – it is the way we do our business Everyone needs to demonstrate safety by their actions

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

THE DAY OF ACTION

The Process

1) We asked people to• Look at what has happened so far on the project• Tell us what they thought was good or bad on their work

site• Tell us what they thought could be improved• Make personal commitments2) Management made commitments

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

DAY OF ACTION

Messages• Used humour• Reality

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

Training Simulator

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

OUTCOMES SINCE “THE DAY OF ACTION”

• 120 identified actions – 95% closed out

• The strength of feedback

• Significantly less incidents - minor

• Productivity improved

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

Recordable Serious Incidents Oct-Jun

2

33

4

2

3

4

6

8

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

No of Staff

on SiteNo of Recordable

Injuries

= LTI

= RWI

= MTI

The benefit of Intervention !

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

FOLLOW UP – WHERE TO FROM NOW ?

• Another ‘Day of Action’

• Simulator

• Continuing reinforcement of Procedures

• Management contacts to continue

• Up skill Supervisors - ‘Field Leadership Programme’

• Captain and the Coach Programme

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill“The Captain and the Coach”

Creating a Safety Culture at Prominent Hill

OVERALL CONCLUSIONS

• The time to influence a mine site culture is at the beginning

• Focus on behaviour • Harness enthusiasm and committment • Senior management intervention is powerful• Commitment by employees is better achieved if

feedback is continuous and issues raised closed out