Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    ‘She’ll be Right Mate’ – Culture and Safety

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Milnes, P.
    Melkoumian, N.
    Mather, Diarmid
    Milnes, T.
    Stewart, A.
    Tan, L.
    Date
    2010
    Type
    Conference Paper
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Milnes, P. and Melkoumian, N.S. and Mather, D. and Milnes, T. and Stewart, A. and Tan, L. 2010. ‘She’ll be Right Mate’ – Culture and Safety, in Topal, E. and Kuruppu, M. (ed), Mine Planning & Equipment Selection, Dec 1 2011, pp. 427-438. Perth, WA: Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy (AusIMM).
    Source Title
    Mine planning and equipment selection - MPES 2010
    Source Conference
    Mine Planning & Equipment Selection
    ISBN
    9781921522352
    School
    WASM - Western Australian School of Mines
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28609
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    While improvements in occupational health and safety (OHS) in the mining industry have decreased fatalities and accidents, little attention has been paid to the cultural confound of ‘safety’ in the increasingly multicultural mining industry. Occupational health and safety processes often contain assumptions of cultural understanding that may not be shared or understood by mining employees. There are potentially dangerous and costly implications of cultural difference in the mining environment. Some people have been enculturated with high levels of anxiety concerning catastrophe and uncertainty while others have a more laissez faire attitude to accidents and disaster. The level of cultural anxiety about uncertainty can be a major factor in the acceptance of OHS processes. OHSmanuals based on a comprehensive set of rules and procedures may assume that the authority of ‘rules’ is shared by all employees regardless of a variety of cultural understandings when this may not be the case.Similarly, cross-cultural employees may not share a background or acceptance of expensive technological innovation and so resist/avoid the application of new safety equipment. Then too, OHS staff may not realise the significance of religious belief or personal responsibility on employees’ attitudes to safety in the workplace environment. A lack of consideration of these cultural elements could have fatal and expensive results. This paper explores the impact of cultural difference in the understanding of OHS in the Mining Industry, presents a model to improve the understanding of the cultural confound in safety, improves analysis of OHS in practical multicultural situations, provides assistance for those involved in OHS training and may become a basis for developing OHS policy and procedure.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Risk Factors for the Number of Sustained Injuries in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Operation
      Ajith, Michael; Ghosh, Apurna ; Jansz, Janis (2020)
      Background: The relationship between risk factors and likelihood of occupational injury has been studied. However, what has been published has only provided a limited explanation of why some of the employees working in ...
    • Leaders as motivators and meaning makers: How perceived leader behaviors and leader safety commitment attributions shape employees’ safety behaviors
      Fruhen, L.S.; Andrei, Daniela ; Griffin, Mark (2022)
      Theory and research identify leadership behaviors as critical for safety outcomes at work. To gain further understanding of the nature of leadership's link with employee safety behaviors, we examine the joint role of ...
    • An integrative model of organizational safety behavior
      Cui, L.; Fan, David; Fu, G.; Zhu, C. (2013)
      Introduction: This study develops an integrative model of safety management based on social cognitive theory and the total safety culture triadic framework. The purpose of the model is to reveal the causal linkages between ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.