2009 Montana Mining - Montana Mining Association

Safe work doesn’t
come naturally
Barrick’s ‘Courageous Leadership’ program
instills a culture of safety awareness
As MSHA statistics clearly show, safety in the mine workplace does
not come naturally. It takes a lot of hard work. Employees are
accustomed to completing the task at hand as quickly and efficiently
as possible. Unfortunately, in the past this process may not have
involved a lot of thought about what can go wrong and how to reduce
Contract employee Jed Munday installs cameras at the open pit lookout
using a fall restraint.
the likelihood of an unwanted event. At Barrick Golden Sunlight Mine,
we are working hard to change our culture so that consideration for
safe work is the rule rather than the exception.
In order to have a safe mine, it is necessary to have a comprehensive
safety program that includes everything from operating controls
to emergency-preparedness. However, we believe the key to a culture
of safety is a program that focuses on behavior, leadership, and risk
assessment. Barrick’s ‘Courageous Leadership’ program provides just
this focus. We also believe that a safety culture isn’t something we can
turn on at work and off at home – it has to be a value that is with us
24-hours per day, seven days per week. When safety is a value for
every employee, we will be able to achieve our vision of “Every person
going home safe and healthy every day.”
42 Montana Mining 2009
Comprehensive Safety Program
To help safety become an uppermost value for all of our employees,
we make every effort to keep it at the forefront of their minds at
all times. We take every opportunity to talk about safe work; all staff
attend weekly safety meetings, and each of our staff meetings begin
with a safety share. There are many different aspects of a safe work
place; consequently, the Barrick program has nine core elements,
including:
Leadership and personal commitment.
Training and competence.
Risk management.
Operational controls and procedures.
Health and wellness.
Contractor controls.
Incident investigation.
Emergency preparedness.
Performance measurement and assessment.
Mobile maintenance general supervisor John Perigo is shown here with one of
the trucks that he modified to improve safe access, by replacing the ladder with
stairs and adding a wrap-around deck with handrail by the driver side access.
John has been recognized as a Barrick Safety Champion for these efforts.