Page 52 - Advances In Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining

38 Advances in Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining

no direct economic benefit. Coal mines are no longer bound only by their access to
viable coal deposits, their own financial resources, and the acquiring of government
permits to develop and operate a coal mine. Today, they must also consider their social
license to operate. While there is no one definition of social license to operate, aspects
that are generally accepted include mutual economic benefits, organizational reputa-
tion as a responsible mining company, environmental impacts, and safety and health
performance, among others [15].

3.4 Zero Harm framework

In light of the lack of consensus regarding the complete mining safety body of knowl-
edge, but also the increasing acceptance of the concept and vision of zero harm, what
do mining companies need to do in attempting to achieve and sustain this level of per-
formance? Achieving and sustaining safety excellence is not just a matter of institu-
tionalizing common sense or trying harder at doing the same things that are common
practice today. Such a goal is among the most complex and multifactorial challenges
facing the industry. It involves many variables that can influence safety and health
outcomes, including, but not limited to: fitness-for-work, competency, process design,
equipment optimization, rock mechanics and geophysics, the effectiveness of risk
management and hazard controls, behavior and human error, organizational culture,
and leadership. Bringing a consistent degree of control to these many variables affect-
ing mining risk requires an integrated strategy. There is no simple solution. That is not
to say that there are not mines and moments when safety is enhanced and preserved
through seemingly simple activities and actions, random and otherwise. However, all
indications suggest the “keep it simple” strategy has not resulted in zero harm perfor-
mance on any meaningful scale to inform the rest of the industry and it is unlikely to
sustain it should it be achieved. Zero Harm is a complex, difficult task.
Broadly speaking, the potential to achieve and sustain zero harm in coal mining
depends on three key domains of mine management: (1) systems that are at the center
of controlling mining risk: verifying worker qualifications, fit-for-duty status, train-
ing, and competency; mine engineering, including fixed and mobile equipment selec-
tion, use, and maintenance; energy distribution and application; information and
communication systems; comprehensive risk assessment, including hazard control
selection and verification; systems for change management, effective supervision,
continuous improvement, error management, and regulatory compliance; (2) culture,
as measured by organizational climate, and the organizational characteristics associ-
ated with strong, effective safety and health management such as open communica-
tion, employee consultation and empowerment, trust, accountability, vigilance
relative to risk, among others; and (3) leadership. The most significant influence
on organizational culture is the collective behaviors of leaders. Leadership develop-
ment based on defined competencies that drive performance and the organization’s
culture helps to lay a foundation to optimize the systems that are designed to manage
risk to a level that Zero Harm is realistic. Furthermore, it is not enough to manage the