On 28 November 2008, leaders from the NSW mining and extractives industry, unions and the public service set an agenda for culture change to improve occupational health and safety (OHS) performance.

The Summit was the leading initiative of the NSW Mine Safety Advisory Council in working toward the mining and extractives industry in NSW being recognised as a world leader in occupational health and safety. MSAC had been developing the strategy of working towards world-class health safety and had identified that the drivers for further improvement were OHS culture change and development of non-technical skills at all levels.

The Summit issued a communiqué that outlined a joint vision for the industry and an agreement on a set of guiding principles that will help ensure the industry to have a dynamic culture to address key health and safety issues.

On 25 November 2010 industry leaders, unions and NSW Government agencies met again to reinforce and confirm a goal of world-leading OHS in the NSW mining and extractives industry and refined the 2008 vision to the 10 most meaningful points that characterise the OHS culture vision.

Summit vision

The vision confirmed at the summit is:

1. Zero harm.
2. Demonstrated commitment at all levels to OHS that is authentic and innate. Everyone can lead the way.
3. All people are competent and have the authority and resources to complete the job safely.
4. Genuine consultation that is meaningful and effective at all times.
5. Good OHS leads to good productivity.
6. OHS implementation at regulatory, industry, site and individual levels is achievable, fair and just.
7. An effective enforcement policy that is applied in a consistent, fair and proportionate manner.
8. Accountabilities and responsibilities of all persons in the workplace are clear and within their control.
9. A problem for one stakeholder is a problem for the whole industry that can be resolved through collaboration.
10. There is no disconnect between systems and practice.

Joint action

The communiqué also calls for action to develop and implement joint strategies to:

• foster non-technical skills through education programs to improve OHS culture.
• educate communities about good OHS principles at and beyond the workplace.
• promote the value of non-technical skills in the industry.

The MSAC will provide the forum for the development of collaborative approaches and oversee their progress.

Non-technical skills

Non technical skills are cognitive, social and personal resource skills that compliment technical skills and contribute to safe and efficient task performance*.  These skills may include:

• consultation
• communication
• situation awareness
• teamwork
• decision making
• leadership

* This definition is proposed in the publication Safety at the Sharp End (p. 1), authored by Rhona Flin, Paul OConner and Margaret Crichton, 2008.