Mine Safety improved through training. Barminco was named Australia’s Large Employer of the Year at the National Australian Training Awards in Brisbane last week and it says that it’ use of new training centres help make new mining employees safer and can operate more efficiently.
Barminco Chief Executive Officer Paul Muller said it was an honour to be recognised.
“Our vision is to be the world’s leading hard rock underground mining service provider, and our people are at the core of that vision,” Mr Muller said.
“We are aiming to significantly increase the size of our business in the next five years in what is a highly competitive labour market and our focus is firmly on training and our integrated people strategy.
“It is wonderful to be recognised nationally for our work in this area.”
Barminco was established in Coolgardie 30 years ago with just 30 employees and today has 3,900 employees across 22 projects in 8 countries and 4 continents.
READ RELATED
Key elements of Barminco Training Strategy
Key elements of Barminco’s training strategy are the Barminco Training Centres, the first of which has just opened in its Hazelmere head office in Western Australia, and a second facility being replicated on a larger scale in Botswana that is due to open shortly.
“These unique facilities replicate what it is like to be underground. There is a focus on operational skills and they utilise technology to offer customised virtual reality scenarios for all the different underground jobs,” Barminco General Manager, Safety and People, Patrick Bourke said.
“This is a game-changer for us as it ensures new employees go to site with a much better understanding of the underground environment so they are safer and can operate more efficiently“
Barminco General Manager, Safety and People, Patrick Bourke
“Barminco’s focus on training people extends to several other programs, including its successful apprenticeship program that has been running for more than 20 years and its unique leadership program designed to provide career progression for employees, a key retention tool to develop and progress staff into management roles.”
Mr Bourke said Barminco’s rapid growth was down to the people the Company employed and therefore investment in their training was essential.
“We are extremely proud of our innovative training programs and it has made an enormous difference to our business,” he said.
Barminco was one of three named finalists for the 2019 Australian National Training Award – Large Employer of the Year, following a win for the same category at the WA Awards in September. It also received safety certification for ISO accreditation recently.
Interested in mine training….why not mark the date for the Resources Training Council Conference
Read more Mining Safety News
Add Comment