Psycho-Social Issues in Mine Emergencies: The Impact on the Individual, the Organization and the Community

Abstract

This paper draws on research conducted in the past two decades examining issues related to the human element in mine disasters. While much of the emergency response community employs a systems approach that takes into account psychosocial issues as they impact all aspects of an emergency, the mining industry has lagged behind in integrating this critical element. It is only within the past few years that behavioral interventions have begun to be seen as a part of disaster readiness and resiliency in the industry. The authors discuss the potential applications of psychosocial studies and suggest ways to improve mine emergency planning, psychological support, and decision-making during a response, as well as actions in the aftermath of incidents. Topics covered, among others, include an economic rationale for including such studies in planning a mine emergency response, sociological issues as they impact such things as leadership and rescue team dynamics, and psychological issues that have an effect on individual capacity to function under stress such as during escape, in refuge alternatives, and in body recovery. This information is intended to influence the mine emergency escape curriculum and impact actions and decision-making during and after a mine emergency. The ultimate goal is to mitigate the trauma experienced by individuals, the organization, and the community.

The impact of non-technical issues on decision-making by coal mining incident management teams

“…Uncontrollable events where people are at risk have generated the strongest stress reactions among rescue operation commanders [183], a situation that is unfortunately representative of a serious mining incident. The impact of traumatic stress has been acknowledged in the mining literature with a call to consider this in preparing for mining emergencies [111]. However, there are potentially many other emotions at play in a mining IMT that may be more subtle and less expected than those triggered by the horrific consequences to others.…”

“…However, trust has received significant attention in mining literature [113,111,82] and therefore seems worthy of separate consideration for the mining IMT. Trust issues were identified by the NSW mining industry safety review as a critical factor in determining health and safety outcomes [223].…”

“…The mine veterans interviewed placed importance on factors such as teamwork, trust and practice [211]. Other mining research has raised questions regarding the e ciency of collaborative decision-making during an emergency [198] and several decision-making techniques have been highlighted to assist mining IMTs avoid common psychological biases [111,198]. However, decision-making in the mining IMT remains relatively unexplored.…”

“…However, only in the last 25 years have behavioural aspects been considered [20]. There have been calls made for further behavioural and psycho-social research on decision-making during emergency management [112,111,20]. Decision-making and leadership issues encountered by miners who are underground in the 'first-moments' following the discovery of an incident, such as an underground fire have been examined [113,30,205,202,212].…”

“…The existing mining literature has acknowledged that stress is a critical factor in mining emergencies [110,111], yet also notes it has mostly been overlooked in training [109]. Lazarus proposed that emotion is the super-ordinate term that includes stress and coping and that emotion, stress, and coping are a conceptual unit [118, p. 37].…”