Anglo American frontline coal miners rewrite safety program

The most important thing to come out of a mine is the miner. And this is the north star that has guided Anglo American through the redesign of its frontline safety program.

Through a bottom-up approach, frontline coal mine workers have been empowered to shape a new Fatal Risk Management (FRM) program, one that is easy to use and doesn’t add another layer of red tape.

Anglo American Australia chief executive Dan van der Westhuizen says embedding frontline workers in the project team is crucial in designing the simplified and standardised tools as they understand the risks better than anyone else.

He says the team includes a mix of operators, coordinators, supervisors, superintendents and contractors across its Bowen Basin operations in Queensland.

“Fatal Risk is not a new concept for the mining industry and learnings from our people, peers and industry experts have informed our approach,” he said.

“Our point of difference has been cultivating FRM from the operator level to leverage the insights and experiences of our frontline workers to ensure we have the best chance of getting it right.”

Anglo American’s FRM program comprises 14 Fatal Risks and 50 crucial Fatal Controls that sit underneath risks and these must be in place to help prevent a fatality from occurring at the frontline – at every job, every time.

“These 14 Fatal Risks are sobering because they represent circumstances where a teammate in our business or industry has lost their life or been seriously injured on the job,” Mr van der Westhuizen said.

“It’s not often you get a chance to stop, take a step back and create a new way of working but we knew we had to make a change.

“Everyone deserves to go home to their families, friends and loved ones at the end of every shift.

“We know change is not easy and a culture doesn’t change overnight, but we know we are moving in the right direction.”

Anglo American has been named a finalist in the 2024 Prospect Awards for the rollout of its Fatal Risk Management project.

Aquila and Capcoal mines, which piloted the new program across the Middlemount operations, have teams flying to Perth for the awards dinner this evening.

Capcoal exploration supervisor Will Parfitt, who has been in the mining industry for more than 17 years, says he is proud to represent his colleagues as a member of the Fatal Risk frontline team.

“There is nothing more important than the safety of my colleagues across Anglo American and this is one of the most important things I’ve done,” he said.

“I’m really proud to be involved.

“We now have one universal Take 5 book and Job Risk Assessment template across all operating divisions – among the last lines of defence when it comes to identifying and managing risk at the frontline.

“Five different variations existed before which was extremely confusing and painful for our workers and contractors who work across multiple sites.

“It wasn’t an easy process – we each brought our own views, perspectives and things we thought our individual sites wanted and needed.

“We recognised early on that we wouldn’t be able to please everyone or achieve perfection.

“We wanted to design the best tool that met the needs of the majority.

“When coupled with the other tools in our FRM system, our Take 5 provides the prompts to change our frontline’s perception and tolerance to risk.”

Moranbah North Mine underground coal mine worker Lil Shanley, who has just returned from the International Mines Rescue Competition in Colombia, was also a key member of the FRM development team.

“When someone doesn’t return home, the impact is significant on the families, friends, colleagues, community and the industry,” she said.

“The ripple effect is devastating.

“Ultimately, we’re all here for the same reason – nothing is more important than safety.

“I’ve worked across almost the whole Bowen Basin and the simple tools are the ones that work best.

“If it’s too complex, people don’t understand it and they won’t complete it properly for fear of getting it wrong.

“There is nothing confusing about these new tools and the people using them are the ones who have come up with them. I am proud of being able to make the decisions that are going to become a legacy.”

Capcoal dozer operator Emily Page, also involved in the FRM team, said she loved mining and could never go back to a normal nine-to-five job but being on site for a fatality was “the worst thing in the world”.

“If we can make sure everyone goes home every day, that’s the most important thing,” she said.

“The most important thing to come out of the mine is the miner.

“I just don’t want anyone to lose their life, not just in Anglo American but in the industry; it’s got to stop.”

Key points on Anglo American’s Fatal Risk Management program are:

• developed by frontline staff for the frontline to ensure it is impactful and useful – not simply another management tool;
• frontline workers designed the risk management tools to avoid a tick-and-flick approach – this involved rearranging the Fatal Risk icons and prompts each time to guard against complacency;
• a Job Risk Assessment (JRA) that now includes critical control hold points, to ensure controls are operating as intended at the crucial point in time;
• prestart boards that require collaboration from the team each and every shift; and
• Fatal Risk performance dashboards showing Fatal Control performance and compliance, informed by in-field engagement and verification, help leaders drive action and focus areas.

Safety superintendents Lunetta Friend and Jenna Graham, from Aquila and Capcoal mines respectively, have also been named Safety Advocate of the Year finalists in a joint entry for their work rolling out the FRM pilot program at the two sites.

NOTE:

Anglo American classifies Fatal Risk as something that has the potential to kill immediately on the frontline during a task. They exist in the operational environments and can be present anywhere and at any time.

The mining company classifies Fatal Control as a control that can and must be put in place and checked is operating as intended on the frontline before starting a task.

In Australia, Anglo American has five steelmaking coal mines in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, along with additional joint venture interests in steelmaking coal and manganese, as well as base metals exploration projects in Queensland.