The major event for the mining industry took place 11. - 16. September, 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. The 22nd World Mining Congress with its guiding theme “Innovations and Challenges in Mining” proved again to be one of the most important events for the mining industry.

Helmut Ehnes, General Secretary of ISSA Mining, has been part of the congress opening with his keynote address "Vision 2020: Safe Mining Worldwide!", stressing the importance of mining while pointing out the need for safe workplaces - to protect lives and to improve economic performance. Ehnes called for international cooperation of all stakeholders.

ISSA Mining unites expertise in international session

The next day, ISSA Mining ran its session chaired by ISSA Mining’s Vice President John McEndoo. Ehnes introduced the “Seven Golden Rules” to an interested audience – a framework that according to leading OSH experts is the prerequisite for successful occupational safety and health and should be applied worldwide. The special responsibly and commitment of the management, targeted risk assessment, a systematic approach and the qualification, training and motivation of everyone involved in mining operations are the keys of this program.

Is mining without any accidents occurring an illusion or a realistic aim? This question has been discussed by Dieter Mantwill, manager safety at German coal producer RAG. Impressively he described the road of his company’s safety efforts,  leading to a reduction of accidents of no less then 93% during the last 15 years – currently 4.3 accidents per one million hours worked.

Hans-Georg Beyer and Ramazan Karaaslan gave insight into the joint project focussing on lowering the high accident risk in Turkish coal mining on the basis of jointly performed safety audits. ISSA Mining aims to share the know-how gained in this project with other interested countries.

The benefit of systematic procedures and safety management systems were described by Dr Andreas Grimmeiß who showed the significant differences between businesses with a certified system and those who have not implied such a system yet.

Further presentations discussed safety culture (Gye Wan Bae, Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), South Korea), Biological Monitoring of Aromatic Amines, Benzene and Benzo[a]pyrene in Workers of a Modern European Coke Oven Plant (Dr. Tobias Weiss, Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr-University Bochum (IPA), Germany), and the application of personal protective equipment in extreme climatic conditions (Prof. h. c. Karl-Heinz Noetel, Expert Commission PPE of the German Social Accident Insurance, Germany).

Important contacts tied

Typically for congresses of this nature, the opportunities from meetings and discussions on the side were significant as well. In a discussion with Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz a sustainable cooperation with ISSA Mining has been agreed upon. Yildiz also initiated TTK’s membership in ISSA Mining.

Safety and Health in Mining: The Benefit from International Cooperation

ISSA Mining's session, chaired by John McEndoo - Vice-President of the International Section on Prevention in the Mining Industry of the ISSA, Vice President Safety, Health and Risk Management AngloGold Ashanti Americas Region - ran 13. September and united mining and safety experts from different countries:

Introduction
Seven Golden Rules to Improve Safety and Health in Mining –  the Benefit from International Cooperation  
Helmut Ehnes
Secretary General of the International Section on Prevention in the Mining Industry of the ISSA, Switzerland/Germany

Abstract | Presentation

The Accident-Free Mine: Illusion or Reality?
Dieter Mantwill
Manager Safety and Health, RAG (German Hard Coal Mining), Germany

Independent Mine Safety Audits (IMSA) – Results from a Turkey-ISSA Mining Project to improve Mining Safety
Ramazan Karaaslan, TTK, Turkey
Hans-Georg Beyer, Labour Inspector
Berufsgenossenschaft Rohstoffe und chemische Industrie (Raw Materials and Chemical Industry), Germany / ISSA Mining

Systematic Safety – The Benefits of Safety Management Systems for Mining Companies
Dr. Andreas Grimmeiß
Berufsgenossenschaft Rohstoffe und chemische Industrie (Raw Materials and Chemical Industry), Germany
Division Safety Management Systems

Implementing the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work – OSH as a Basic Human Right
Gye Wan Bae
Secretary General International Cooperation Center/Secretariat for the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work
Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), South Korea

Biological Monitoring of Aromatic Amines, Benzene and Benzo[a]pyrene in Workers of a Modern European Coke Oven Plant
Dr. Tobias Weiss, Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr-University Bochum (IPA), Germany

The Siberia PPE Project – Mining Under Extreme Climatic Conditions
Prof Dr Vladimir Rodin, Director of the  Labour Safety Scientific Research Institute, Yekaterinburg, Russia
Prof. h. c. Karl-Heinz Noetel, Expert Commission PPE of the German Social Accident Insurance, Germany

Information & media on safe mining

ISSA Mining's Holger Imhoff and Gerold Soestmeyer have been ready to share first hand information on safe and economic mining. Next to offering the latest media on safety and health protection in mining, ISSA Mining showcased an example of best practice miner's equipment courtesy of RAG Germany.

Contact: Helmut Ehnes, helmut.ehnes@bgrci.de

Comprehensive information can be retrieved via the official congress website http://wmc-expo2011.com