We have successfully completed a series of courses on comprehensive safety for Chilean and international professionals in the mining, gas and oil industry, taught in part by a specialist from The University of Queensland, Libby Humphries.
Both courses—»G3: GMIRM Risk Management Systems» and the «Workshop on the Bow Tie Methodology and Critical Control Management»—were given at Universidad del Desarrollo, and coordinated by SMI-ICE-Chile specialist Alexander Dabner and expert Libby Humphries, the main speaker, who shared the latest knowledge and experience in critical risk control, developed by the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC) at The University of Queensland.
Critical controls, or barriers, are actions taken to prevent hazards from becoming dangerous or fatal events. They are a key aspect of safety in the mining industry and other large-scale operations, such as oil and gas.
The Sustainable Minerals Institute, through the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC), has developed a robust line of research and training in safety and health in the mining industry.
For 25 years, this University of Queensland centre has collaborated with industry and regulators to improve risk management and occupational safety and health. The centre’s multidisciplinary team provides applied research, education and cutting-edge professional training to advance in the areas of risk management and critical controls, process and system safety, human aspects of automation, emergency response, application of advanced technologies, and other areas related to employee psychology and health.
Although risks are often well known in mining, failures in identifying these risks and how to manage them can result in serious injuries and even fatalities. The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), recently recognized that Critical Control Management (CCM) is «an integral part of risk management and aids in identifying the priority risks in a company and implementing critical controls to prevent an incident or mitigate its impact.»
Libby Humphries has over 20 years’ experience in health and safety including the development of health and safety management systems and risk management planning within Rio Tinto, consulting to coal seam gas contracting companies.
The first course—G3: GMIRM—reviewed topics such as: basic risk management concepts, legal aspects, the importance of control systems, human factors, risk communication and decision making, good practices in operational risk management, risk assessment, critical controls and integrated risk management.
«The G3 course taught us a lot about risk management with a practical approach, especially in terms of the comprehensive approach to critical controls to reduce the accident rate,» said Pedro Maulén Parraguez, head of the risk prevention department at Minera Las Cenizas.
«It was a very enriching experience to improve risk management in my organization, with a focus on protecting and caring for people,» added Elmer Andree Ticona, Head of Safety, Occupational Health, Environment and Community Relations at UNICON.
The Bow Tie methodology is one of the most widely used risk management tools in industries like mining, oil and gas, to prevent events with a high impact on the safety of people and their operations. It is used to analyse and communicate risk scenarios, reproducing outcomes in a bow tie diagram that provides a graphical representation of the event, its causes, impacts and risk controls.
This course was attended by Chilean and foreign professionals, who highlighted the valuable lessons learned during the four-day program.
«Overall, the training was exceptional, especially because it gave us access to knowledge from an internationally renowned institution like The University of Queensland,» said Natalia Alcayaga Silva, Head of Occupational Safety at Codelco’s Chuquicamata Division. «It was very valuable to integrate all the concepts that we are implementing at Codelco in our different divisions. One of the best lessons we learned was related to risk management and how to identify a hazard; there we had the chance to learn and unlearn things about critical controls. It was also really interesting to hear about the mistakes and successes of other companies or corporations.»
«This course has helped me break some paradigms about critical control management and trained me in 2.0 management,» said Astolfo Romero Sánchez, VP Health & Safety at Sierra Metals, a copper mining company with operations in Mexico and Peru. «The biggest lesson was understanding what a control is and what is not. Often as safety leaders we tend to exacerbate controls, and here we have learned that a control is defined by its relevance and pertinence, while other controls are simply supporting or verifying actions, which are important, but should not be the focus of top management. I will take this lesson back to my organisation.»
