Send this article to a friend
Print this page


Unsafe behaviour is normal behaviour

Posted: Thu, 06 Mar 2008

[miningmx.com] -- MINES IN South Africa have a fatality and injury rate three times the equivalent in developed countries such as Canada and Australia despite having occupational health and safety legislation on a par with those countries.

The reason appears to be an endemic acceptance of risk in our culture. Workers travel in unsafe taxis to work, accentuated by drivers who often seem bent on committing as many traffic violations as they can in the shortest time. Living in a society with among the world's highest rates of violent crime we're not a law-abiding community.

Is it any wonder they pay lip service to occupational safety at work, asks Dr Koos Oosthuizen, a medical doctor working for Murray & Roberts Cementation, who decided to become involved in the prevention of injuries rather than just treating them.
business culture drives safety
M&R Cementation is involved in outsourced underground mining, and Oosthuizen is its risk executive. The mining industry has been particularly slow to change. Despite all the changes in South African society over the past two decades, it remains highly conservative.

The roller coaster ride that's been commodity prices and the rand's exchange rate over the past decade has served to place the emphasis firmly on production at all costs. Incentives offered for higher production have served only to skew even further that emphasis.

The fundamental reason for poor safety standards, says Oosthuizen, is that safety is not integrated into production practices. "Ask to speak to any production person about safety on a site and he'll immediately call his safety professional. That's the problem."

Oosthuizen has just pioneered a new risk strategy at Cementation, one that aims at nothing less than changing mining behaviour. It's a journey, he says, not an event and one that he expects to be ongoing for 20 years.

The crux is that in 20 years injuries should be considerably lower. The process has to start at board level and cascade down to the rock face. Finger-pointing tends to be rife in safety, with management accusing workers of not sticking to safety procedures while workers accuse management of condoning it.

Oosthuizen believes safety is simply an outcome of what we do every day on a mine, and leadership has allowed unsafe practices to persist, even though company systems prohibit them. That tacit acceptance of unsafe practices has become institutionalised.

Click Here to subscribe to our daily newsletter
"When business leaders understand that business culture drives safety - rather than safety programmes driving safety culture - then they will be more open to appreciating how their leadership qualities enhance or destroy the inherent safety culture of a business," he says.

"Our new process is designed around a need for behaviour change and a need for new communication tools." The process aims to instil a culture of caring throughout the organisation, starting with management levels. It's based on international best practices, says Oosthuizen, and adapted to the South African environment.

"A culture doesn't change overnight. In the mining industry there have been many short-lived programmes. That's why we call it behavioural change and culture change. We're aiming for a risk-smart workforce.

"The behavioural change process is based on best practice from different success stories in various industries worldwide. It starts at the executive level and is extended to all other managers/supervisors in line management based on visible, felt leadership, coaching, diversity and emotional intelligence principles.

The learning from best practice is that this process must be internalised and not driven by external consultants. It's implemented as a 'built in' not a 'bolt on' process."

Mining isn't like other industries: it's a dangerous environment in which you often don't get a second chance. For that reason safety has to be deeply ingrained. The unions play a small role in safety in South Africa, with that function perceived largely as one of legal compliance.

"In Canada the unions play a big role - and there's no compromise on safety. There, the union will take disciplinary action against management for safety violations. Unfortunately, because of our recent history, unions in South Africa are highly politicised," says Oosthuizen.

He recommends the role of safety officials on mines should evolve from one of compliance to one of audit of the effectiveness of mine safety measures.