Tech-driven training creates safer mines
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“The most important thing to come out of a mine is the miner.”
These immortal words are believed to have come from 19th century French sociologist and mining inspector general, Frédéric Le Play, and they are as truthful today as they ever were.
THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN MINING REVIEW AFRICA ISSUE 2, 2021READ THE FULL DIGIMAG HERE OR SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE A PRINT COPY HERE
The challenges for any mining operation are countless and research shows that the vast majority of incidents can be linked back to human error. As such, the need for in-depth, hands-on and continuous health and safety learning for all levels of mining work grows more urgent by the day.
AUTHOR: Stuart Woolmington, CEO of WinWin International
Health and safety issues within mining are often exacerbated by the inability to bring real-time information to a risk environment. Historically, the enormous amount of information to be taught and serious lack of learning technology has meant that learning tends to take place in old-style training rooms, often with generic content and outdated systems. It is little wonder that the industry’s health and safety statistics are cause for concern.
Making learning real
Fortunately, health and safety in mining is one of the many areas being positively impacted by innovation within the world of learning and development technology. One of the most exciting ways in which such advancements have broken new ground is to bring education to miners in simulated environments which feel true to reality.
In other words, providing hands-on training that illustrates how to decrease or remove risk and injury in close to real-life situations, brought about by clever technology. For the longest time, this type of non-traditional learning was considered beyond imagination and surely impossible. Thankfully, this is no longer the case.
Revolutionising the industry
For several years, there has been a solid focus on changing the ways in which the mining industry learns. Below are three ways in which innovation and technology are making a real difference, particularly in the critical area of health and safety:
About the author:
Stuart Woolmington is the CEO and founding member of WinWin International. He has more than 30 years’ experience in learning and development and strategic communications.