This year’s Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference is looking outside its own industry to see what programs, systems and initiatives are transferable to the resources sector.
The Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference (QMIHSC) has been promoting health and safety in the state’s mining industry for more than 30 years. The annual event provides people throughout the sector with opportunities to exchange information, form connections and foster proactive health and safety management techniques.
And this year’s QMIHSC committee promises the best of the best.
“The committee is looking to bring to the stage interesting and varied keynotes relevant to the breadth of organisational delegates in attendance, and to address changing dynamics in health, wellbeing and safety, and current and future matters impacting our industry,” chair Larnie Mackay said in a welcome letter.
Mackay spoke to Safe to Work about how the conference holds tremendous importance within an industry as potentially high-risk as mining.
“We work with a lot of big equipment. We work in an environment that is underground, as well as surface. Some areas are quite remote,” Mackay said.
“There’s a lot of associated risks operating the mines themselves, as well as personal factors such as fatigue, working away from family, etcetera.
“So the health and safety of everybody who is on a mine site, or supporting a mine site, is absolutely critical.”
This is the 34th year in which the QMIHSC has been held, and the central theme for 2023 is ‘inside looking out’.
Mackay said the theme is designed to examine health and safety practices that have worked in other industries and see what is transferable to the resources sector.
“For many years, we’ve looked at what we, as an industry, can do to improve health safety,” Mackay said. “We’ve looked at innovation and technology to be able to improve upon our own.
“But I think we also need to look at programs, systems and initiatives that are considered best practice in other industries that can be adapted to the mining industry.”
The QMIHSC originated in Townsville when a couple of hundred delegates from the resources industry were having a conversation surrounding health and safety, and how it needs to come to the forefront of the sector.
“Then over the years, through the support of industry and seeing the value that comes out of the conference from keynotes, from innovation, presentations, health awards, what our suppliers bring to the exhibition hall, it actually grew to the point that it was too big for Townsville, so we had to move it to the Gold Coast,” Mackay said.
“Now it’s further grown to a point were every year we continue to be elated by the phenomenal interest and support from industry, including exhibitors.
“Last year was the first year we had international interest and international attendees at the conference.”
Within the resources sphere, high reliability organisation (HRO) theory is becoming more prevalent.
HRO is when a company or industry has succeeded in avoiding catastrophes, particularly in high-risk environments where accidents can unfortunately happen, such as mining and quarrying.
HRO theory suggests organisations that achieve health and safety objectives do so by understanding sensitivity to operations, recognising the complexity of some practices, viewing failure as a chance to grow, welcoming safety insights from staff, and practicing resilience across the board.
“To be confident in HRO is absolutely where the sector needs to go,” Mackay said.
“We need to find an industry that has implemented HRO, and (in which) it works well. We don’t need to take off on that journey completely by ourselves and then fall at the same hurdles that other industries have already fallen and learnt from.
“Let’s see the outcomes, take those learnings and adapt for our industry, ensuring we implement a robust and positive way forward.”
The organising committee for this year’s conference has reflected on feedback from previous events.
“It’s fantastic to get feedback from delegates who say, ‘I learnt this from the conference, I’ve taken it back and I’m putting it into my workplace’,” Mackay said.
The committee has also proactively grown the conference in terms of its diversity and inclusion across speakers and topics.
“There is going to be a vast array of keynote speakers this year – from within and outside the industry,” Mackay said.
The event has already seen great success even before it has been held, with all exhibitors and various other conference offerings selling out.
“The mining iiIndustry is great at looking inside and outside for innovation inspiration,” Mackay said.
“Through the Innovation Awards we will be providing a platform for selected innovators to present to the industry what is going on in this space.
“There is the Health Hub showcasing various industry support services that are available for people who want to know a little bit more as to what they can do for themselves as well as others.”
The QMIHSC has changed the look of the exhibition hall this year to ensure more, and different, exhibitors are available for the industry.
Mackay describes the legacy of the QMIHSC as bringing multiple elements of the resources sector together.
“It’s across unions, regulators, operators, coal and hard rock, quarries, surface, underground,” she said.
“Everybody gets to attend, everyone has the opportunity to have their say, and all feedback received goes into the next conference.”
The 2023 Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference is being held at the Star Gold Coast from August 20–23.
This feature appeared in the May 2023 issue of Safe to Work.