Copper mining company BCL started the year 2015 on a bad note, recording a high number of lost time injuries and two deaths. BCL Managing Director, Dan Mahupela revealed last week that the mine recorded a high number of injuries and two deaths over the past six months, largely because employees failed to comply with operations procedures and standards set out in the mining Act.
“The year 2015 came with some unfortunate records as the company recorded a high number of lost time injuries mainly attributed to non-adherence to procedure and standards,” he said.
He reiterated the mine’s commitment to upholding high safety standards, saying safety and health are very important elements of BCL operations.
“The mine has potential to enhance productivity and employee morale as well as improve partnering opportunities as we grow and diversify our operations. But we have recorded negatives in the past six months,” he said.
The poor record in the first six months of 2015 was a blemish on the impressive safety and health records attained by BCL in the previous year, when its lost time frequency rates (LTFR) were at all time lows. In 2014, BCL achieved LTFR of 0.3 against a target of 0.5 which was a 38 percent improvement from the previous year. However, the mine recorded fatalities toward the end of 2014 and beginning of 2015. Mahupela said BCL management is deeply concerned by the frequency of fatalities at its underground operations.
“We consider these operations as serious especially because we have been a safe mine with a record of more than four million fatality-free shifts between 7th July 2010 and 31st March 2013.”
Mahupela also assured the nation that management has upped its game and instituted in-depth protocols to improve safety. Among such initiatives, he said, are insistence on good behaviour, based care model, early and late shifts as well as fatal risk protocols.
“We have also looked back in some areas where we experienced fatalities and put in place extra measures to eliminate chances of injury. Rest assured that we are doing everything we can to ensure that the mine becomes a safe place to work in. We have also gone the extra mile to deal with all environmental challenges,” said Mahupela.
