Global Leader and Safety

Safety in Mining in Australia The mining industry in Australia is traditionally renowned for establishing best practices that are geared towards promoting the health and safety of miners as they engage in their various activities towards improved productivity. Through the use of these best practices and safety solutions, Australia's mining sector has developed to become a global leader with regards to safety and health.

According to the Australian Trade Commission (2014), the health and safety of miners in the country's mining industry has partly been attributable to the use of an effective world class regulatory and policy framework. Moreover, the Australian government collaborates with industry players and stakeholders to ensure that the mining sector is free from injuries, fatalities, and disease. Currently, the Australian government utilizes a Safety Engineering Model that has helped in dealing with unsafe acts and unsafe conditions as shown in Figure 1 below (Cliff, 2012).

Figure 1: Safety Engineering Model (SEM) in Australia's Mining Sector Source: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6625/75fe4001b93872dfa4aed58b76b4f29875e8.pdf Despite the Australian mining industry being renowned as a world leader in health and safety of miners, recent increase in accidents and unfortunate incidents have generated concerns regarding the safety of this industry (Stutsel, 2014). In essence, recent accidents have indicated that there is need for improved health and safety solutions in the mining industry in order to achieve the goal of zero harm.

Evekall, Gillespie & Riege (2008) state that the increase in incidence rates beyond the target of zero harm in Australia's mining sector have demonstrated the need for improving health and safety in the entire mining industry in Australia. The increased occurrence of safety incidents indicates that safety in Australia's mining sector is slightly deteriorating and needs to improve.

The lack of improvement of safety in this sector is also attributable to the failure to achieve the target zero harm through Australia still maintains her status as a global leader in the health and safety of miners. Recent reports and surveys conducted on this industry have shown that there is need to re-evaluate and rethink the presumptions and foundations that underlie the currently utilized health and safety solutions in Australia's mining sector.

Australia experienced a spike in the number of fatalities in the mining sector in 2013-14 as compared to 2012-13 period as shown in Figure 2 below. These statistics shows that rather than improve, safety in Australia's mining industry is seemingly decreasing. Figure 2: Fatalities in the Australian Mining Sector Source: http://cornerstonemag.net/evaluating-safety-and-health-in-australias-mining-sector/ Recommendations for Improvement These statistics shows that rather than improve, safety in Australia's mining industry is seemingly decreasing.

As a result, there have been different proposals that have been made to help enhance safety in mining in Australia as part of re-thinking the underlying health and safety solutions that are currently utilized. One of these recommendations is to enhance risk assessment and management that enables early detection and prevention of potentially risky situations that could compromise the health and safety of miners.

For instance, in the coal mining industry, the Australian government and industry stakeholders have adopted risk assessment approaches that improve plant safety and storage of dangerous chemicals (Joy, 2004). Secondly, the safety of mining in Australia can be enhanced through the use of meaningful safety indicators, improved information sharing between relevant stakeholders, and identification of high-risk areas (Ekevall, Gillespie & Riege, 2008). In conclusion, Australia has been renowned as a world leader with regards to safety in the mining sector.

The country's position as a leader in this issue has been attributable to various factors including the use of suitable health and safety solutions. Additionally, the Australian government collaborates with industry stakeholders to promote the health and safety of miners across all mining operations. However, the country has experienced a recent increased in.