Our THINK!Safety program empowers every individual, at every level, to take ownership of their own and their colleagues’ safety. We encourage every person to use their head: Think, don’t wait to be told.
First Quantum’s THINK!Safety program is a practical, sensible approach to risk management, all framed within our Health and Safety Management System, which is compatible with ISO45001
It features sensible rules without excessive red tape.
We avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and we vigorously defend against the false sense of security that comes from having blanket rules and indiscriminate procedures. Whilst we insist on key Safety Rules in specific environments, we find that overall Safety improves when we teach workers to assess their environment, identify hazards, take action using their own critical judgement and support their colleagues in the same.
The THINK!Safety program started life at our Kansanshi and Sentinel mines as a trial of Crew Resource Management (CRM) – the famously successful aviation industry safety program that has been adopted and adapted for use in many different industrial sectors, including healthcare, firefighting and shipping handling. CRM training focusses on non-technical skills – teamwork, decision making, and communication – to improve situational awareness and problem-solving, which all help to improve safety performance. In our early trials, we found CRM helpful but lacked a mining-specific focus. So we have developed our own, First Quantum safety program.
The THINK!Safety program is incorporated into our Health and Safety Management System, which is compatible with the ISO45001 standard and has been implemented at all of our sites. We have embedded the Health and Safety Management System through formal training of employees and contractors, practical on-the-job training with on-the-job follow-ups and extensive workplace communications and employee engagement.
We want everyone who works at our sites to go home safely to their families at the end of every shift. We also want them to stay safe at home. The next step for THINK!Safety is to roll out the concept to the communities located near our operations to improve safety and reduce accidents in homes, farms, businesses and schools.