Health/Safety • Issues & Advocacy

HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE MINERAL EXPLORATION INDUSTRY
The goal is to reduce accidents in exploration to zero

Safety alert! Travelling in a helicopter this season? Transportation related accidents, particularly those involving helicopters, are the main source of fatalities and major injuries in the mineral exploration sector. Safety Around Helicopters is well worth reading.

Page Index:
Health and Safety Committee
Background
Health and safety is the responsibility of everyone in exploration
Health and safety has wider implications
Health and safety in exploration toolkit
Survey of Canadian mineral exploration companies
Annual safety award
First-aid and safety training courses
Resources

Health and Safety Committee
The PDAC’s Health and Safety Committee was established in 2005. Click here for a list of members.

Background
Health and safety is a key element in the sustainability of the mineral exploration industry. Mineral exploration takes place in environments that show an extreme range of conditions, and companies have great challenges in addressing the risks to employee health and safety.

Health and safety is the responsibility of everyone in exploration
Ensuring healthy and safe working conditions for individuals employed on an exploration project is the responsibility of everybody involved in the exploration process.

Company executives have the responsibility to put in place management systems that will prevent, monitor, evaluate and enable action to be taken on health and safety accidents. Here is a set of guidelines to assist boards of junior exploration companies establish effective health and safety policies and protocols for their companies.

Project managers should:

• Be aware of the kinds of accidents, risks and hazards that can befall individuals working in exploration

• Take every possible precaution to avoid these hazards

• Educate those in their charge about these risks and provide adequate training to avoid or deal with them

• Have in place emergency measures to deal with accidents if and when they occur

All employees are responsible for the health and safety of themselves and coworkers by:

• refusing to do unsafe work

• highlighting unsafe conditions to their supervisors

• pointing out unsafe conditions to coworkers so that coworkers can refuse to dounsafe work

Employees need to be assured that their health and safety is paramount and that their managers and their coworkers have taken the utmost care and precautions to protect them from harm.

Health and safety has wider implications
Ensuring the health and safety of individuals working on an exploration project makes good business sense:

• Companies with a good track record in health and safety can often qualify for lower insurance premiums.

• Days lost because of an accident can stall a project, leading to additional, unbudgeted costs.

• Individuals are reluctant to work for companies that have high accident rate histories.

An additional complication for the exploration industry with respect to health and safety is that a considerable amount of the field work, and some of the more hazardous work, is done by contractors. A prime example of this is diamond drilling. However, in the eyes of government, at least in Canada, the company is not only responsible for employees but also shares responsibility with contractor management for contractor employees on site. Companies have been cited by government in cases of accidents or deficiencies with respect to contractors. Geologists will often have the role of health and safety auditor of contractors such as drillers, but do not always have the training to take on this role.

The exploration industry also needs to demonstrate to governments and the general public that it takes the issue of health and safety seriously.

While a company’s first priority is to the health of its workers, it may well find that health issues extend to the broader community. In Canada, health is the responsibility of the provinces and territories, and companies likely have little involvement in the health of those not directly in their employ. However, companies working in developing countries with few or no government supported health care services may be expected to step in and provide them for local residents.

Health and Safety in Exploration Toolkit
In March 2009, the PDAC launched e3 Plus: A Framework for Responsible Exploration. An integral part of the framework is a comprehensive toolkit for health and safety in exploration, developed by experts in the field. The toolkit, which is organized under the following broad headings: general safety principles; field work; transportation; and worksite safety, is available here.

Survey of Canadian mineral exploration companies
Canadian Mineral Exploration Health & Safety Annual Report 2007
Canadian Mineral Exploration Health & Safety Annual Report 2006
Canadian Mineral Exploration Health & Safety Annual Report 2005

Most exploration companies are small with few employees. Compared to other industries with thousands of employees in one company, exploration companies may not have sufficient experience or statistics internally to recognize work hazards that lead to accidents. The PDAC joins forces with the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia [AME BC] to conduct an annual national health and safety survey of mineral exploration companies with projects in Canada. The aim of these surveys is to track health and safety trends nationwide, to promote health and safety awareness, and to encourage companies to institute accident prevention measures. A national survey enables companies to share this non-competitive information to the benefit of the whole industry. By sharing accident statistics, companies and individuals obtain a view of statistically more significant data. Aggregate survey results are published. Here are the reports for 2005, 2006  and 2007.

Annual safety award
A safety award is given every year to a company recording the least number of lost workday incidents in the preceding year. Presentation of the award is made by representatives of the PDAC and the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia at the annual meetings of both associations. The 2006 winner of the award was De Beers Canada Inc. The company logged 257,235 hours without a lost workday incident. The winner of the 2007 award will be announced towards the end of 2008.

First-aid and safety training courses
The PDAC is promoting training of personnel in field safety by sponsoring wilderness first aid courses. These courses are offered particularly to smaller companies and individuals who are unable to incur the cost of contracting a trainer. Three courses were offered in the spring of 2008, one in Thunder Bay and two in Sudbury. A total of 45 people participated. The health and safety committee anticipates that more courses will be offered throughout Canada, ideally in collaboration with local or regional exploration/prospecting groups.

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