Renewing the way tasks are being performed is the key to optimizing mining business.
«If you want different results, do not do the same things». This Albert Einstein’ phrase makes direct reference to the paradigm shift that the Chamber of Mines of Peru proposes to introduce for the optimization of the entire mining business.
The idea is to renew the way in which the tasks have been carried out in the production process, so that the extractive activity is developed with higher standards of profitability, responsibility and sustainability.
For the Chamber of Mines of Peru, the best way to promote and introduce these changes is to work with young students of the professions related to mining activity, since they will integrate the future generations of professionals, technicians and operative personnel that will work in the different operations.
The Chamber of Mines of Peru is also concerned about bringing teachers in the sector up to date because it is necessary that these professionals are trained to teach new knowledge to their students in an optimal way.
For this reason, the Free Seminar «Effective Strategies to Achieve Success in the Mining Sector» will be held on June 24 and 25. As part of this event, the conference «Paradigms and Change Management to Achieve Success in Mining» will be given by Ing. César Gallardo, CEO of the Chamber of Mines of Peru.
To shift paradigms in the mining sector, it is important to innovate. Sometimes fear of innovation is what stops change. It so happens that many people related to mining, among them, workers, are opposed to change. They say that it is unnecessary, that it is very complicated and that it will not generate major benefits.
The main reason is that they are accustomed to performing tasks in the way they have always been carried out; although they are aware that there are better ways to perform them.
«The same need for change will generate a considerable space for innovation and creativity, elements that can help us to improve tasks in the production process, with the objective of generating some kind of positive impact on the value chain, as long as the focus is on the benefit of the entire mining business», said Ing. César Gallardo, CEO of the Chamber of Mines of Peru.
For example, production process in the mining activity is composed of various stages such as drilling, blasting, loading, transport and concentrator plant. In this regard, improvements in some processes such as drilling or blasting will allow a better fragmentation, which will increase the production level in the concentrator plant and will generate an improvement for the entire mining business in general.
Traditionally, it was thought that in order to reduce the number of accidents, it was enough to organize talks, training and publication of regulations. However, in recent years, companies have been paying more attention to identifying the intrinsic characteristics of their workers. In other words, the concept of mining safety based on behavior has been established, identifying those behaviors that are dangerous, and reinforcing those that are positive.
An example of its importance can be found in Peru, where the company Antapaccay has developed, since 2014, the Yo Aseguro program, whose objective is to promote occupational safety and production, emphasizing the responsibility each worker has for his own integrity, that of their colleague, wellbeing of their family, production without incidents, and thus, a future for all.
Therefore, we resort to daily meetings on awareness; observations for the correct identification and report of acts and sub-standard conditions; analysis of the causes of all acts and risky conditions; and preventive action, consisting of a corrective action plan to eliminate the causes.
As for the topic of safety, workers used to think that care for health and integrity of personnel was the sole responsibility of management.
However, during the last few years this idea has been changed. Now a new concept is proposed, which is safety based on values. This has made every member of the organization aware of the fact that their safety depends on themselves. Likewise, all members making up the human capital of the companies must take care of each other.
In this aspect, workers not only become aware of the fact that they are responsible for their own integrity, but they must also be concerned about the welfare and integrity of their co-workers. This is a high level of organizational awareness, where each member has a fundamental role in the success or failure of safety management in the company.
A case study of paradigm shift in a mining operation occurred in a Peruvian mine, where the idea was that if more incidents were reported, it was a sign of more possible accidents. The paradigm shift was that the increased number of reported incidents was seen as a clear evidence that risks were being assessed and identified more effectively. By doing this, potential accidents were reduced, and the result was that there were no fatal accidents at mining operation within two years.
The objective of promoting this change of paradigms that the Chamber of Mines of Peru is carrying out is to optimize the development of the mining activity through implementation of new tools, techniques and concepts that are more in line with the needs of the current mining activity.
