Creating safety awareness through a training intervention: a case at a gold mine in South Africa

Abstract

In the productivity-driven mining industry, safety and employee engagement become a hazard. The mining industry in South Africa experiences challenges such as a high accident rate, employees who are not engaged and individual employees who do not see safety as their own responsibility because they think it is the responsibility of the safety department. A change intervention may create safety awareness among employees. There is a general lack of understanding among managers and academics regarding the effectiveness of such a programme. The main focus of the study being reported here was to determine the effectiveness of a mindset training programme to create safety awareness at a plant in the gold mining industry in South Africa. The empirical results showed that the concept of safety crystallised as a single factor in the after-training factor analysis whereas previously it was concealed in the interpersonal skills, safety and productivity-orientated factor.