Page 62 - Advances In Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining

48 Advances in Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining

and behaviors of all employees, it is most acutely responsive, for better or worse, to the
collective behavior of management from the front-line senior leaders.

3.9 Leadership

Leadership is the mechanism by which one or more persons influence a group of indi-
viduals to achieve a common goal [36]. The importance of leadership both to opera-
tional excellence and safety is not in dispute [37]. This observation has been
demonstrated across national cultures, industries, militaries, genders, and a variety
of organization types and business models. In the context of safety, leadership plays
a crucial role in optimizing culture and influencing attitudes, behavior, effort, and safe
decision making. Leadership is the primary influence on organizational culture [38].
While there is no one optimal approach to leverage leadership behavior to enhance
organizational culture, structured leadership development is an obvious option.
Whether using a competency model to define the behaviors most likely to drive
the culture and optimize safety systems, or another approach, the only poor option
is not attempting to improve the leadership of all coal mine personnel who control
the means and mechanisms of production, and therefore safety. Competencies that
have been associated with enhanced safety include, but are not limited to: trust and
integrity, effective communication, having a relevant vision, accountability, personal
example, conscientious decision making, etc.
Zero harm is an aggressive vision and/or goal involving advanced technical and
sociotechnical systems and effort. Without unambiguous and effective leadership pro-
moting a credible zero harm vision, and the accompanying management decisions
consistent with risk management that makes zero harm a realistic possibility, Zero
Harm may be doomed to be another fad visited upon the industry, but not resulting
in the change all coal mine stakeholders seek—to optimally protect the industry’s
most valuable asset: its miners.

3.10 Conclusion and future trends

The coal-mining industry is expanding geographically and must pursue coal deposits
with greater geotechnical risk due to the exhaustion of more accessible, lower-risk
deposits. During this change, a host of voices are heard advocating for higher stan-
dards of mining safety. Not just standards that are higher than the historical trend,
but the highest achievable. These voices come from multiple stakeholders, both in
time and place, but they share a common theme: despite the inherent risk associated
with mining coal, the coal community can and must do all that is feasible to protect its
most important asset—the miners. Zero Harm, zero harm, and zero H.A.R.M. are
sharpening the debate about safety and health excellence. Expectations are increasing
as is the acceptance of new thinking outside the refrain of relying solely on regulatory
compliance to optimize performance. Today, it is better understood that coal-mining
companies, regardless of size, must focus on systematic risk management, including