The Australian mining industry’s number one value and commitment is the safety and health of its workforce, where everyone who goes to work in the industry returns home safe and healthy.
The minerals industry is committed to becoming free of fatalities, injuries and industrial diseases.
Australia’s minerals industry is committed to the principle that every individual – regardless of where they work, whether as a direct employee or contractor, and whatever tasks they undertake – should have the same high standard of workplace safety.
The MCA continues to advocate for:
- continuous improvement, where all parties work together in support of a safety culture based on trust and openness, not an adversarial legal approach based on a blame culture
- regulatory practice based on consistency, transparency, probity, clarity of role, flexibility and rational pragmatism
- an enforcement rationale based primarily on the desire to improve workplace health and safety standards at a particular mine and prevent further incidents by sharing lessons across the mining industry.
MCA member companies maintain that:
- all fatalities, injuries and industrial diseases are preventable
- no task is so important that it cannot be done safely
- all hazards can be identified and their risks eliminated or minimised as far as reasonably practicable
- everyone has a personal responsibility for the safety and health of themselves and their work mates.
The industry recognises that even greater effort is needed based on leadership, systems, people, culture and behaviour working in unison and backed by robust regulation.
Just as the industry has integrated safety and health issues across varied operations, it seeks an integrated approach from governments to support a growing, diverse and mobile workforce.
The MCA continues to advocate uniform national occupational health and safety legislation, supported by industry-specific regulation, to bring greater certainty, efficiency and clarity to industry participants.
Uniform national legislation would also help to ensure that compliance challenges do not detract from the practical tasks of identifying, managing and minimising risk and the continuous improvement of safety and health outcomes by companies.
It is also critical that compliance challenges do not detract from the practical task of identifying, managing and minimising risk and the continuous improvement of safety and health outcomes.
Applying safety and health: management approaches
The minerals industry’s number one value and commitment is the safety and health of its workforce, where everyone who goes to work in the industry returns home safely. Specific initiatives to give practical effect to this management approach include:
- Industry Guideline for the Management of Rockfall Risks in Underground Metalliferous Mines Reference Manual - A reference manual and guideline that provides underground mining and technical personnel with an essential source of information related to the management of rockfall hazards
- Blueprint for mental health and wellbeing - A framework to promote wellbeing, as well as reduce the risks and impacts of mental illness with directions evidence-based strategies which can be applied at company and site level
- Pocket guide: Mental health in the workplace - What to look for and how to help a colleague who may be going through a tough time
