The Gold Standard: How Calibre’s Pan Gold Mine is Leading the Way in Health and Safety
In June, 2024, direct employees of Calibre’s Pan Gold Mine in Nevada hit a key safety milestone: three years without a lost time incident. What's more, our Nevada employees and contractors together have worked over half-a-million hours without a major injury.
The numbers alone are worth celebrating, but it’s the hard work of our people we’re most proud of.
“Our people strive every single day to do the safest job possible,” says Ed Spear, Pan Mine Safety Manager. “Each task, and each day: that’s how we achieve those numbers.”
Empowering Employees to Work Safer
At Calibre, we often talk about our culture of safety, and creating safer work environments for our employees, but how do we achieve this? It’s about giving employees not only the tools, but also the power, to do their jobs safely, says Ed.
“When they own their safety and know that they can slow down and ask the right questions, get the right equipment, or even stop work to ensure safety – people will do the right thing,” he says. “We have an amazing workforce that does this daily.”
The Pan Gold Mine Health and Safety team consists of three people, who simply can’t be everywhere, all the time – so the role employees play in identifying potential risks is crucial, adds Dan Ferriter, Calibre’s Vice President of Environmental Affairs: “You need to have the whole team in that mindset, thinking about safety and environmental concerns.”
Health-and-safety personnel also make themselves available – and visible – daily, proactively checking in with employees. This is important because not everyone feels comfortable sitting down and speaking with a manager formally, or opening up in a meeting, notes Ed. “In order for us to help them, we have to be out in their work areas, talking to them, seeing what they do and what they're going through,” he says.
This style of open communication begins from the moment new employees arrive on site, receiving initial training in Calibre’s safety approach and processes. “As they move forward, it becomes second nature,” says Ed. Safety meetings occur weekly, along with quarterly mine-wide “timeouts” to discuss safety topics.
From there, it’s a matter of constant improvement. “Mining is not static,” says Ed. “It's constantly changing, and what worked yesterday may not work today. So, we must constantly be on the lookout for new ways to promote safety, and to let our people know that they will have the safest mine possible.”
Challenges and Opportunities in Gold Mining Safety
No one knows what the future will bring, and health-and-safety challenges will inevitably arise as the mining industry evolves. This is why preparation is essential, says Ed. “We’re constantly looking at those challenges not just as roadblocks, but as opportunities to improve; finding better ways to assist our people to give them the support they need,” he says.
Currently on his radar? For one, upcoming U.S. federal regulatory initiatives. “We want to make sure we’re not only compliant, but better than compliant,” he says. One changing area is industrial hygiene, which refers to workplace environmental conditions with the potential to cause illness or discomfort in employees. New federal exposure limits are expected to be announced soon.
“Luckily, we're two or three steps ahead. We already started adjusting a few years ago,” says Ed. “But we still have a big push on industrial hygiene right now.” This includes testing for mercury, lead and silica exposure, for instance. Although the new regulatory standards will be much lower, we are very confident that Pan Mine will be able to meet the new requirements.
The Pan Gold Mine team is also working to improve health, safety and environmental guidance for contractors. “We want to make sure we’re constantly looking at our contractor base, bidding the companies that are being upfront and letting contractors know what our expectations are,” says Ed. “This helps ensure they’re able to comply with not just the regulations, but Calibre’s standards as well.”
Looking Ahead: Safer Horizons at Pan Gold Mine
What’s next for Pan’s Health and Safety team? Ed has an eye on updated training for work in elevated-risk areas, such as confined spaces and heights. Plus, the team is keeping abreast of the latest advances in equipment and procedures, especially those conducive to improved safety.
It’s all part of working proactively, instead of reactively, he says. “We all wish we had a crystal ball so we could see into the future. But we don't, so we have to live in a ‘what if’ world, constantly looking for things that could go wrong, and being prepared,” says Ed. And then, should a challenge arise: relying on that carefully laid foundation of employee training and empowerment.
“We have to rely on our people to help us with those challenges, so we need to make sure they know we’re here for them, all the way from the top to the newest employee,” says Ed. “It takes time – but the best thing we can give our people is time.”