Abstract
This article investigates safety-related developments in the Swedish mining industry over a 30-year period, from the 1980s to the 2010s. It studies what may have contributed to lowering the accident frequency rates and improvement of safety more broadly in the industry. On this basis, interviews were conducted with informants from mining companies. This material was supplemented with a workshop with mining health and safety representatives and documents relating to the subject. The results are divided into four main themes, showing that from the 1980s and onwards, lowered rates and general safety improvements followed in the wake of technology development. This was complemented by a more direct focus on organisational aspects of safety beginning in the early 2000s. Still the effectiveness of the individual measures is not clear; while they theoretically have an effect, causality is hard to show. In other words, the improvements may not necessarily depend on the specifics of these initiatives. Given this, the article discusses the different initiatives in-depth, and gives suggestions for future research and industry action. This includes recommendations for approaching safety holistically and the development of new proactive indicators.
Highlights
Mining, in Sweden and in other countries, is no longer the high-risk industry it used to be
The Swedish mining industry has a safety record that in some respects is similar to the manufacturing or construction industries (Swedish Work Environment Authority, 2017)
The study mainly focused on two large mining companies, but additional material was collected with input and insights from representatives from other mining companies, contractors and a former inspector of the Swedish Work Environment Authority (SWEA)
Summary
In Sweden and in other countries, is no longer the high-risk industry it used to be. High accident frequency rates as well as severe and fatal accidents characterised its operations. Though the accident rate is still elevated compared to national averages and highly safe industries, the improvements should not be understated. The lost time injury frequency rate (per million working hours; LTIFR) among the Swedish mining industry’s own employees has gone from 51.3 in 1981 to 7.1 in 2015 (SveMin, 2016). The number of fatal accidents per one million working hours was 1.1 in the 1950s (Brand, 1990). Between 2000 and 2009, on average one fatal accident occurred every other year (SveMin, 2010), which is roughly equal to a rate of 0.06. The mining industries of the United States (Katen, 1992) and Canada (Haldane, 2013) have seen similar improvements. Mining was one of the sectors with the largest decrease in accidents during this period
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
