18 Sep 2022

The mining industry has been hailed for its contribution to modern day civilisation.

De Beers Group executive head of technical, Mr Burger Greeff said this during a safety summit dubbed Letsholo Safety Summit in Jwaneng mine recently.

The summit pooled together mining industry players to deliberate on the latest safety innovations in the industry.

Mr Greeff said it was vital for the industry to be kept as safe as possible to create a good image of it being the corner stone of civilisation.

“The good thing is that we have the required leadership to ensure what we envisage. When it comes to safety, it should be noted that each individual is important and they should be treated as such,” he said.

Mr Greeff said it was exciting that Jwaneng mine, which had one of the highest production of diamonds by value, was taking the lead and setting standards for absolute zero harm.

“This will go a long way in creating a culture of safety for the future. In the mining industry across the world, people get injured on a daily basis and this needs a change of mindset. Hopefully, this safety summit will help us learn a lot,” he said.

Mr Greeff also said that for the mining industry to succeed in attaining zero harm in the workplace, there was a need to create an environment where each individual was free to challenge the status quo, in as far as safety was concerned, as well as for people to start bringing innovative solutions, than looking for faults.

“Safety is the responsibility of all, so all should reflect on what we need to do to achieve remarkable results in absolute zero harm. Fear of failure is the most contributor of unsafe working environment. It is our fear of standing up and doing what is right that takes us back, so we need to take it on psychologically,” he said.

He said the psychological approach would require empowering employees to take accountability in learning and teaching others as well as taking all stakeholders, such as service providers, on board to share safety as a common value.

Jwaneng mine general manager, Mr Koolatotse Koolatotse reiterated that safety boiled down to individuals such that each was responsible for theirs. 

He said safety must be such a priority that any activity should halt if there were fears that a working environment looked unsafe, adding that no diamond was worth a life and that the culture of safety enhanced the value of a diamond.

Activities of the summit included a four-man panel discussion of chief executive officers of Civil Aviation Authority, Dr Bao Mosinyi, Mr Charles Siwawa of Botswana Chamber of Mines, Mr Edwin Ellias of Morupule Colliery Mine as well as Mr Koolatotse.

All the panellists concurred that safety was of utmost importance in the mining industry and as such it should not be delegated.

They also concurred that leaders were empowered to take initiatives to ensure the safety of the rest of the staff.

They further stated that there was need for a paradigm shift from the perception that mining was a dangerous industry. Ends