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Gahcho Kué Mine has achieved more than one million hours of work without a lost time injury (LTI).
The remote fly-in/fly-out mine operates 24-hours a day just south of the Arctic Circle and experiences extreme weather conditions, logistic challenges and seasons of excessive daylight and excessive dark.
The last LTI occurred in September 2018. The Gahcho Kué team attributes their success in large part to a recent campaign at the mine that encourages employees to focus on their personal safety and to encourage colleagues to do the same, called the Brothers’ & Sisters’ Keepers Program.
Launched in January 2019, First Aids are down 16% and Medical Aids are down 42% in the first six months of the program.
“We are on a journey that requires us to look out for one another and be relentless in our safety commitment,” said Patrick Kramers, Superintendent of Safety, Health, Risk and Training. “The road to Zero Harm isn’t an easy one, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that it’s a road well-worth travelling.”
A Lost-Time Injury (LTI) is a work-related injury resulting in an individual being unable to resume their regular duties on the next calendar day after being injured.
The operation has a history of safety excellence, including the Mine Rescue Team winning the Best Surface Overall title at the 2018 and 2019 Northwest Territories/Nunavut Mine Rescue Competitions in Yellowknife. Gahcho Kué also received the 2017 Hatch-CIM Project Safety Award from the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) and the 2016 Workplace Health and Safety Award from the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce.
The De Beers Group Victor Mine received four consecutive John T. Ryan Safety Awards from the CIM between 2015 and 2018 and the company’s Canadian division was named as one of Canada’s safest employers in 2017 and 2018.
Gahcho Kué is a joint venture between De Beers Group (51% - the Operator) and Mountain Province Diamonds. The mine is located 280 km northeast of Yellowknife in Canada’s Northwest Territories.