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De Beers Victor Mine has reached new heights of safety awareness, surpassing 30,000 near hits reported by employees.
Understanding, identifying and addressing potential hazards in the workplace is embedded in the work DNA of mine employees like Marc Shwaluk. Marc works in the mine’s Process Plant and submitted the 30,000th “Near Hit” on June 23, a milestone in the making since the mine opened in 2008.
A Near Hit is a report of an unsafe situation or behavior that could lead to an incident or injury, which is submitted to managers and then brought to the Safety, Health and Risk department. It’s this resilient culture of awareness that has helped Victor become one of Canada’s safest mines as recognized by the national John T. Ryan safety award presented to the mine for 2015 and 2016.
“Every Near Hit that gets submitted is potentially an incident that we stopped from happening,” said Len Porquet, a Safety, Health and Risk supervisor at the Mine. “It’s well received on the site, and obviously the more Near Hits the better off we are because it’s bringing everything out to the open.”
To drive the safety message home, Near Hits from the previous day are read out at every safety toolbox meeting held before each shift so all employees know about them and what’s being done to correct them.
“This is one of the safest mines to work at, so when employees arrive on site and hear the safety stats that we’ve had 86 days with no First Aids, no Medical Aids and no Lost Time Injuries, it makes them feel good because everyone is going home healthy.”
So far in 2017, 96.5 per cent of the days at Victor Mine have been “triple zero” or days free of First Aids, Medical Aids and Lost Time Injuries.