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The Challenges of Competently and Safely Integrating Mining Workers
Sylvie Ouellet,1
Élise Ledoux,1
Esther Cloutier,1
Pierre-Sébastien Fournier,2
Jean Bernier,2
Céline Chatigny3
1
Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail, Montréal, Québec, Canada
2
Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada
3
Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
An emerging problem
Age, intergenerational relationships, and occupational health and safety are all issues that must be seen against the backdrop of the ongoing evolution of our societies marked by, among other things, increasingly globalized markets, changing job conditions, a large-scale introduction of new technologies, and an aging work force in industrialized countries. Recruiting and integrating new workers has become a major concern for company directors and managers in such a context. Recruiting and integrating new workers has become a major concern for company directors and managers in such a context. This is particularly true for directors and managers in the mining industry who not only have to deal with an aging and experienced labour force but also with recurring recruitment problems and absences due to the considerable amount of illness and injuries in the sector. There is a growing interest in how to integrate new workers which has arisen from recent studies pointing out the lack of labour-market preparation that young workers receive, the greater number of accidents that occur among young workers (Ledoux and Laberge, 2007), and the higher risk of accidents to which people are exposed in the first months of a new job, whatever their age (Breslin et al., 2003). Furthermore, statistical studies have shown that an older and therefore more experienced labour force seems to represent an undeniable advantage in terms of protection from risks, since the occupational injury incident rate decreases as a function of age (Cloutier et Duguay, 1996). In this regard, several ergonomic studies in various economic activity sectors and for different professions have shown that experienced personnel develop individual and collective work strategies to handle the many constraints of their occupations and to protect themselves from risk (Cloutier et al., 2005; Gaudart et Weill-Fassina, 1999; Fournier, 2003).
Mining companies, which can expect to see many experienced workers retire in the next few years, could find themselves losing a great deal of expertise crucial to their continuity. They will consequently encounter more problems concerning the skill and training of their labour force that could lead to an increased risk of occupational injuries. Mining companies will therefore have to meet some sizeable challenges in attracting and keeping qualified workers, as well as in ensuring the workers’ knowledge of health and safety if they wish to decrease work-related absence and prepare workers to carry out their work correctly. Several questions should be asked. What conditions must be in place for new workers to be safely and competently integrated? How can occupational knowledge be effectively transmitted to the workers – particularly protection knowledge – before experienced workers retire? What are the conditions and resources experienced workers need to play their mentor and instructor role and to more effectively transmit their knowledge?
This was the context in which a research team, led by Élise Ledoux from the IRSST, was asked by the Québec mining sector’s joint OHS association (APSM, Association paritaire pour la santé et la sécurité du travail du secteur minier au Québec) to document the mining sector conditions that favour a safe and competent integration of new workers (of varying ages and occupational paths), particularly the conditions that foster knowledge transmission between experienced and new workers. The research project, which is just getting underway, draws inspiration from several other studies dealing with the same questions that were conducted in other activity sectors by members of the research team.
The following document describes: 1) the overall Québec mining sector; 2) the integration of new workers taken from a case study conducted in two Québec mining companies; and 3) the methodology of the research project and the expected outcomes.
Type: Feature
Topics: About social security, Administration & management, Occupational risks
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