A new safety culture is being promoted at the Lihir mining site by empowering employees to be better safety leaders.
The culture is promoted through Newcrest Mining Limited’s Safety Transformation Plan (STP) which has been running for the last year.
NewSafe, a pillar of STP, is the “hearts and minds” of the plan and was launched in Lihir recently alongside two other pillars in Critical Control Management and Process Safety.
NewSafe has focused on cultivating a safe and healthy culture in Lihir through building leadership and changing safety behavior at all levels within the mine’s operation.
It is providing safety coaching for front line supervisors and empowering employees to choose the types of behaviors that enhance safety in the business. It also assists employees formulate their own plans to enable and motivate those behaviors.
Newcrest Safety Superintendent, Leo Kala, says “NewSafe empowers employees to take safety to a personal level. Employees are reminded of their three personal reasons for working safely here in Newcrest-Lihir.”
Graig Jetson, Newcrest’s Executive General Manager for Lihir and Cadia underground mine in New South Wales, Australia said NewSafe makes every employee a safety leader.
“NewSafe makes employees a safety leader whether they are drivers, or front line supervisors, new employees, or long serving employees," he said.