Aspects of Occupational Safety Practices and Injury Analysis: A Case Study

Abstract

With continuous sophistication of valued metal extraction methods and processing routes in recent years, occupational health and safety practices of workers are very necessary for improved productivity and financial performance of the mining industry. In the current paper, aspects of occupational safety practices at AngloGold Ashanti Limited, Iduapriem Mine, have been investigated towards ameliorating the safe acts and conditions necessary at the workplace. Three year (2008, 2009 and 2011) records of injuries due to unsafe behaviour and conditions have been extracted from the mine and analysed. The data showed that AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem mine is relentlessly working towards achieving zero injuries at the workplace. The behaviour-based safety management employed in the process of achieving this goal worked very effectively by mitigating the number of injuries realized in the last quarter of the year. Even though the total number of injuries decreased per year in the mine, the first aid injuries recorded were the highest in each year. Reducing the number of first aid injuries markedly reduced the number of dressing, lost time, and restricted work injuries. Furthermore, there were no fatalities recorded in 2008, 2009 and 2011 records of the mine. Overall, the data provided pragmatic information on the safety management style employed at the mine.