Each year, Canadian mines with the most impressive safety records are honoured with the John T. Ryan Award and this year, Agnico Eagle’s Goldex Mine took home top honours.
On May 2nd at the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum’s (CIM’s) 2022 Convention in Vancouver, Goldex received the Institute’s prestigious John T. Ryan Trophy for achieving the lowest reportable injury frequency per 200,000 hours worked in the Quebec-Maritimes region in 2021.
The Goldex team was able to achieve this remarkable performance while facing the many challenges of COVID-19 and constantly adapting to changing health protocols while maintaining best safety practices.
“This award is a real tribute to the dedication and resilience of Goldex employees and supervisors, as well as to the mine’s proactive approach to addressing health and safety issues. Our Health & Safety team was also constantly on the frontlines meeting with employees, listening closely, and learning from them, and always reinforcing positive safety behaviour,” says Sandra Marseille, Goldex’s Health & Safety Superintendent.
That approach includes being collaborative, being open to change, and being on the frontlines to listen and learn from one another and to reinforce positive safety behaviours.
This focus on mining every ounce of gold safely and responsibly is reflected in Goldex’s safety performance. The mine posted a combined recordable injury frequency of 0.37 and a total recordable frequency of 1.10 – both records for the mine since the restart of production in 2013.
Josée Michaud, Goldex’s Health & Safety Senior Coordinator says, “Mine production is done safely one task at a time. Goldex didn’t introduce new programs and initiatives, instead we focused on continuously improving the tools we already had in place. We targeted risky tasks and behaviours, even going line by line through the Supervision Formula/Work Card to remind everyone of the tasks and tools to reduce risks in the workplace.”
This intense focus on reducing risks – which sometimes result in modifying procedures and equipment – often requires additional time and resources, none of which is possible without the support of Goldex’s management team.
What are Goldex’s health and safety priorities in 2022? While reducing accident risks remains a priority, the mine is targeting mental health and wellness in the workplace, offering employees support on stress management and sleep improvement.
Goldex’s proactive approach to safety and the resilience of its workforce continues to win recognition from its peers in the mining industry. On June 9th, Goldex also received the FJ O’Connell Award from the Quebec Mining Association for its outstanding safety performance for “underground operations more than 400,000 hours worked”.
Congratulations to everyone at Goldex!
Goldex’s Good Move: Goldex is committed to making investments that improve the team’s health and safety performance. Just recently, a risk analysis indicated there were ergonomic issues with the design and set-up of the wash bay on level 76 – issues that made it difficult to perform good maintenance. New concrete ramps were installed, giving workers access underneath the equipment, which allowed them to stay in a standing, ergonomically correct position to clean and remove guards and protector plates with appropriate lighting. Hoses and tools were also stored away to ensure the maintenance team’s working space remains clear and clutter free.
Goldex’s JOSH Committee: Goldex’s outstanding health and safety performance was supported by every member of Goldex’s 2021 Joint Occupational Health & Safety (JOSH) Committee including Serge Dionne, Marjolaine Lefebvre, Yves Laflamme, Eric Plamondon, Bernard Dallaire, Sylvain Hélie, and Christian Lessard.