HEALTH & SAFETY
Mining sector develops best practices for a COVID-19 world By Alisha Hiyate
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n many jurisdictions around the world, mining has been classified as an essential service, allowing mines to continue to operate during the COVID19 pandemic. For a sector that takes safety extremely seriously, how are practices being amended to deal with this new reality and to protect employees and communities? From transport of personnel to site, maintenance tasks that require more than one person, and meal times, miners have had to rethink every aspect of operations to continue operating safely. Some of their solutions – including physical distancing reminders in the form of marking out what 2 metres distance looks like in areas where employees congregate – will be familiar to anyone who’s visited a grocery store lately. Even in jurisdictions where mines have
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been deemed “non-essential” businesses, operations must still maintain a minimum number of staff to maintain the site during care and maintenance. So physical distancing, new procedures around common areas, crew changes, etc., still need to be thought through and applied, with guidance from various health authorities. We asked miner Eldorado Gold and contractor Redpath Mining to share their experiences coping with the pandemic in the multiple jurisdictions they operate within. “We’ve utilized and followed guidance from Health Canada, the WHO, Centres for Disease Control and in some areas we’re relying on provincial and regional recommendations, and even in some cases local health units,” says Chris Betsill, manager of Health Safety and Environment with Redpath Mining.
Like others in the mining business, Redpath, a North Bay, Ont.headquartered mining contractor works at sites around the world. “I would say these sources of information refined our strategies and many of our clients also responded quite well and provided their guidance and controls to prevent or reduce the number of cases on their property.” And that varies site by site and by client. “You’ve got remote sites where everyone’s in a camp; we’ve also got projects that are located in a city where people go home back to their families, so each scenario poses different challenges.” George Burns, president and CEO of Eldorado Gold, which has mines in Quebec, Turkey and Greece, says while the company has relied on guidance from multiple authorities, it’s been pretty www.canadianminingjournal.com
