SIMBERI Gold Company Limited (SGCL) has concluded the National Mine Safety Week (NMSW) on Sunday, April 30 following a week of activities.
Themed ‘Mobile Equipment Safety’, the NMSW started on Monday, April 24 and continued with a range of activities throughout the week including sports, noticeboard competition, booth setup, drawing competition for local school students, and a familiarisation tour of an Articulated Dump Truck (ADT).
The mine’s health and safety manager Leo Kola said the week presented an opportunity for everyone to pay attention to mobile equipment safety following frequent mobile equipment-related incidents across the industry in the country as reported by the Mineral Resource Authority (MRA).
“Mobile equipment safety is an important topic in the industry, with many incidents recorded by MRA in the last 24 months,” he said.
“We, as an operation, have experienced mobile equipment incidents.
“Let’s take the safety messages from the NMSW into our work and in our everyday lives.”
NMSW was introduced by MRA in 2012 to improve safety in the mining industry.
Senior Mines Inspector Andrew Onguglo and Inspector Saki Beka the authority were at Simberi to witness SGCL’s participation in theMRA-sanctioned event.
Onguglo urged employees of the mine to take ownership of their own safety.
“Safety is an individual commitment,” he said.
“You either take the risk or protect yourself by observing safety protocols and controls put in place.
“It is simple.
“Focus on yourself while working in a high-risk environment like the mine.
“Controls are there and if you follow them, you minimise the chances of getting involved in an incident.”
The week had Simberi employees and contractors engage in discussions around safety, with haul truck operator, Samuel Kea, assisting in explaining the safety aspects of an ADT and sharing his personal safety story.
Grades seven and eight students from Simberi Primary School were also engaged in a drawing competition and awarded prizes for participating in the week’s activities.
Simberi ended its activities with a hour-long power walk from the Simberi airport to the camp.
