Busted with a Smile

Safety and security aren’t necessarily the first two things that come to everyone’s mind when talking about owning or operating a mine. In fact, to most people, “safety” and “security” often don’t go beyond the images of signs with hard hats painted on them, or padlocked gates at the entrance to a site.

Both are legitimate and understandable impressions, but thankfully in today’s world of mine site safety and security, it goes far beyond graphics. It now involves people who know and recognize the potential dangers at every mine site.

Unlike any other phenomena where people are involved, digging into the ground is an exercise involving many unknown variables. Every shovel-full, every drill hole, and every blast reveals something never seen or encountered before.

The mystery of the dig is what keeps mining exciting, but as already mentioned, there’s danger, too, and that’s why companies like Scarlet Security of Yellowknife are becoming increasingly important to the mining industry in Canada. And the world, for that matter too!

While Scarlet Security’s prime interest is here in Canada, company President Patrick Doyle says the dangers associated with mining know no borders.

“Thankfully,” says Doyle, “owners and operators in Canada are extremely safety conscious when it comes to their sites and their workers, and they should be looked upon as role models for others around the world to follow.”

Over his many years of serving the mining industry, Doyle has seen the practice of site safety and security go from an “afterthought” to second only in importance to discovery and production.

“Somewhat similar to construction sites, mine site and exploration sites in Northern Canada are always farther from emergency services and the impact of an accident occurring is greater. The mining industry and site safety and security personnel must work at keeping the mine site safe and accident free but must have contingency plans in place to handle any type of accident/incident,” says Doyle.

“Because most mine sites are in remote, fly-in only areas, the need to have everyone working towards making the place safe is paramount. All personnel working at the site should be on a constant lookout for areas where improvements can be made to make the site safer and there should be a communication system in place where suggestions can be discussed. Daily safety meetings should be completed and safety reminders communicated.

“Simple things like taping off a pedestrian route from the bunkhouses to the kitchen are often things we pick up on and it’s amazing how many guys nearly get run over on their way to lunch,” says Doyle.

Naturally, Doyle agrees that pedestrian and vehicle accidents aren’t the biggest safety risks on a typical mine site, but he used that scenario to illustrate how seemingly innocent things like walking from the bedroom to the kitchen at a site can be potentially dangerous.

Other, more threatening situations also prevail and that’s where, once again, Scarlet Security can provide a fresh look to old problems.

“It may sound trivial, but even small things like running out of certain kitchen supplies can cause problems. I’ve seen fights break out over it. Because most sites are isolated and often surrounded by darkness and harsh weather conditions, it doesn’t take much for tempers to flare, especially when homesickness and loneliness start to set in.”

Admittedly, stocking supplies and dealing with mental anguish are not part of Scarlet Security’s services, but Doyle says they are issues that must be dealt with when in camp.

However, Doyle says there are far more serious aspects to running a mine that are sometimes overlooked, but are still a major problem.

“Drugs, alcohol, and theft are problems faced by many mining companies,” say Doyle. “Most sites are drug and alcohol free and if anyone is suspected of possessing drugs and/or alcohol, a search could be made of the person and their room. If either substance is found, the person is usually removed from site forthwith.

“Theft is not tolerated at mine sites either, and again, if someone is found stealing from their employer, they are usually removed from the site.”

Doyle says that enforcing the various company policies is a challenge but what’s equally challenging is hiring the right people who know what they’re looking for when it comes to contraband.

“Human Resources are the most challenging part of providing services to our customers because they represent everything from the diamond industry, to ice road builders, oil companies, junior mining companies doing exploration, to even government agencies,” says Doyle.

It’s because of this diversity of needs and environmental settings that Doyle says an equally diverse team of security personnel trained specifically for the job at hand is required.

To get the people to do the job required, Scarlet draws from many sources, including Northern and Aboriginal people who are familiar with the Northern environment and who are willing to be trained for the various types of security work.

“Most of our sites are very safety oriented and we have to ensure that the people that we use at site buy into the safety culture,” says Doyle.

On the ice roads, for example, Doyle says: “Working with the carriers, truckers, ice road builders and third-party users on the ice roads creates an environment where everyone has to work together to achieve the same goal. That goal is, if it can’t be done safely, it won’t be done.

“We live and work with this premise and developed a ‘Safety Take 5’ notebook that all employees utilize when doing a different or new task. We also do Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) to ensure the job is done safely for all involved. Scarlet Security is COR certified and practices the ISO90012000 safety program.”

As mentioned earlier, one of Scarlet Security’s biggest challenges is finding the right people with the right experience to handle safety and security situations, and Doyle says that Richard Jalbert is one of those people.

A recently retired RCMP drug enforcement officer with more than 25 years experience, Jalbert is now one of Scarlet’s project managers who has worked in northern mine camps overseeing safety and security services.

Like Doyle said earlier, Jalbert too has witnessed his share of “unusual” and challenging situations involving safety and security issues at remote sites.

“Much of our work involves providing site protection 24-seven, writing reports on air activity, fire safety, and routine camp inspections; but there’s also the ongoing issues of dealing with people coming and going and what they may, or may not, be trying to bring into or take out of camp,” says Jalbert.

Sharing accommodations with strangers and language barriers between employees can be issues, says Jalbert, but “new employees arriving at camp during the High Arctic winter wearing nothing but running shoes and a fall jacket is not uncommon.”

Aside from that, CMJ asked Jalbert to describe one of the more “unusual” situations that comes to mind and he said: “finding an employee drinking hand sanitizer. He was immediately fired and sent home.”

While Jalbert admits that is an “extreme” case, he says Scarlet Security goes to great measures to help ensure that drug and alcohol abuse is kept under control.

“One of the first things we do before taking on a new client is complete a security assessment of the site and recommend from our experience what type of security would work best for the client; taking into account the location of the site, the number of people working at the site, how employees access the site, and what are the hazards and how to mitigate the risks.”

Performing this service requires experienced personnel, but Jalbert went on to say that the company routinely uses drug-sniffing dogs during its assessment of a poten
tial client’s site to get a clear picture of what it could possibly be facing with its new assignment.

Mine site safety and security are perhaps not as important as discovery and production — yet — but they’re not far behind and thanks to companies like Scarlet Security, they will or should be soon because, as some mining companies already know, nothing can shut down an operation faster than an accident.