Friday, January 25, 2013

Survey Shows Mining Executives Rank Workforce Safety as Highest Priority

Results from a recent survey show new trends and shifting attitudes among mining executives. The study identified worker safety and managing capital projects as the highest priorities of today’s mining executives, followed closely by maximizing production effectiveness.

Ventyx, an ABB company, completed its annual Mining Executive Insights survey in late 2012. According to the firm, the survey represents the views of 374 mining companies. Most respondents were C-level executives, vice presidents or directors across different mining sectors, including coal, gold, copper, iron ore, zinc and nickel.

Respondents identified their current priorities by level of importance as follows:
  • ensuring workforce safety (31%);
  • managing capital projects (25%);
  • maximizing production effectiveness (21%);
  • ensuring equipment operates reliably and predictably (8%).

PRNewsFoto/Ventyx
“Our research shows the mining industry remains cautious about the strength of global economic recovery. In response, many mining organizations have begun looking inward, especially in regard to the labor market,” says Bas Mutsaers, Ventyx’s senior vice president of mining industry solutions. “In doing so, they have shifted their focus from finding qualified workers anywhere, at any cost to ensuring the workforce they currently have is efficient, well-informed and safe.”

“At the same time, these companies aren’t seeing a tradeoff between worker safety and profitability,” he adds. “In other words, the same technologies and best practices that improve safety also improve performance and efficiency.”

According to Ventyx, the study demonstrates how closely mining executives correlate worker safety and mine productivity. When asked to identify their primary safety initiatives, 64% of respondents selected “development of skills, best work practices and situation-based decision making.”

Mutsaers says mobile and other new technologies allow companies to change their traditional approach to training and skill development. “There is definitely an opportunity for mining organizations to leverage emerging technologies to transform how they educate and empower their workers to reduce safety incidents and improve efficiencies.”

For complete survey results, visit http://bit.ly/WCyQf3.