Knowledgemine

Sometimes we can make a point, by exaggerating a point.  Let’s be safe.

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In the environment which that makes up mining one must always be aware that nature abhors a void or an unstable shape. To that end it will always seek to reach a balance . This environment is similar to that of the putting a man in space . In that miners must make there own space and maintain it in such a way that they make work safely to mine the appropriate commodities . In addition, the miners must have ventilation so as to breath and remove harmful , potentially explosive and sometimes poisonous gasses in a safe and efficient manner . While accomplishing this with some of the most sophisticated mining machines in the world . One may liken the equipment as being used by the military being that a combat environment is the one most similar to that of mining . All the while one must remember that this is taking place in mining heights from 30 inches to 70 feet in height .

All of this activity is being done by the most safe and productive miner in the world , The American Miner! We mine more of a commodity with less people, faster with the most modern equipment in the world resulting in the lowest cost per unit of production . When one endeavors to travel the path of a professional miner it must never be forgotten that one has to continually train to enhance there skill sets in Mine Emergency Operations, Emergency Response Planning, First Aid , Fire fighting, Escape and evacuation just to name a few of the more critical topics . We need to raise the training bar, not lower it. Because not all people are suited to be miners just like any other profession and or vocation .

Mine Safety now is being recognized as a discipline in its own right like engineering, production, and maintenance . In closing, I was told by a senior safety professional in an old axiom “ You can tell a companies dedication to safety by how close the Safety Directors office is to that of the Presidents “ I thought this was very profound as I look back on 29 years in the industry with 25 in safety. To that end there is no cost to safety in that it provides a professional service to keep the mine safe and productive. If you think you can not afford safety just imagine your worst case scenario concerning mining and multiply by each person that works there and do the numbers !

Get back to the basics , mining 101 !

Yours in Safety.

T.