Though the mining industry is very good in terms of emergency management, it lacks follow-through and efficiency, in as far as business continuity management (BCM) is concerned.
This is according to Dean Horner, CEO of 42 Consulting, who points out that the fundamental aspect of BCM is that decision makers not only manage the business effectively through a crisis, but do so in order to continue operations.
Horner notes that miners should embrace BCM in reference to 2010, which he says will be recorded as a year of mixed fortunes for the global mining sector.
He chronicles that in October, the San Jose copper mine in Chile made worldwide headlines after 32 miners were rescued after being trapped underground for almost three months.
By contrast, he adds, 29 miners recently lost their lives in a mine blast on a colliery in South Island, New Zealand, and 47 miners were killed in an incident on a coal mine in the central Henan province in China.
In the aftermath of these tragic events, Horner says loss of life and impact on communities is a reminder that in commerce, BCM translates to survival on a number of levels.
“The mining industry is set up to control and effectively deal with an emergency - it is really a part of what is known as normal operational failures.
“The challenge this industry is faced with is that whilst emergencies are dealt with quickly and effectively, operators often struggle with the long-term impact on business recovery and continued operations,” says Horner.
The fact is that, Horner says, when it comes to BCM, decision makers have to differentiate between what are normal operational failures and what are crises.
banking or financial sector regard as a crisis could be construed as being normal operational failures for those in mining, for example.”
He also adds that mining companies should always ask themselves: 'What will happen to the business if we experience a major crisis today?'
According to Horner, in many cases, companies have a strategy or plan on paper, adding that these are really impressive-looking documents that detail all actions and responsibilities to be followed in the event of a crisis.
However, he notes: “The problem with this scenario is that everything looks fine on paper, but when it comes to practical application, most do not know what to do because the knowledge rests with a few and is often not communicated effectively to the rest of the organisation.”
Horner is emphatic about the need to empower clients through the delivery of business continuity capability. In essence, he says, this means that should a crisis unfold, everyone that is affected knows exactly what to do in practice, when, where and how.
“In the mining sector, a crisis must be addressed immediately to curtail damage, minimise risk and protect people and resources. In the Chile example, we saw decision makers take action to manage the crisis and centralise all available resources to ensure the safety of all the miners.
“Once this is done, the decision making process is then focused on continuing operations,” Horner points out.
Horner believes that as events unfold globally and impact on operations across various industries and sectors, the role of BCM and crisis management will increase in significance.
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