Perenti has established a safety transformation taskforce as part of its continued commitment to safety following the Dugald River mine accident.
The taskforce is made up of Board, executive and senior management representation, as well as globally recognised safety experts Peter Wilkinson and Professor Sidney Dekker.
Mr Wilkinson has significant heavy industry experience as a safety executive, having worked with company boards and management teams in support of significant safety events and was the principal author of the ICMM (International Council of Mining and Metals) guide on implementing critical controls.
He is a Principal at Noetic Group, a member of the Australian Government’s Nuclear Safety Committee and a member of the Editorial Board for the American Chemical Society’s Health and Safety Magazine.
Professor Dekker (PhD) is Director of the Safety Science Innovation Lab at Griffith University in Brisbane and Professor at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University in the Netherlands.
One of Professor Dekker’s most recent assignments has been working with Boeing in support of the 737 MAX tragedy aftermath. Professor Dekker has worldwide acclaim for his ground-breaking work in human factors and safety, and is ranked by Stanford University among the world’s top one per cent of most influential scientists.
The taskforce will be supported by safety focused working groups within Perenti’s Contract Mining and Mining Services divisions.
The findings and outcomes of the taskforce are expected to complement and enhance the already significant body of work undertaken by Perenti in this area.
Perenti – working with its clients and as one of the world’s largest mining contractors with over 30 operating mines in its portfolio, plus other mining related services – intends to share relevant findings and outcomes with the broader mining industry, with Perenti’s aspiration being to deliver industry-wide, positive safety and critical control improvements.
Governance of the taskforce will be through the Board Safety and Sustainability Committee, chaired by non-executive director, Tim Longstaff, which will increase its meeting frequency given the focus on safety improvement at all levels of the organisation.
Mark Norwell, Managing Director and CEO of Perenti, said, “Since the tragic incident at Dugald River on 15 February 2023, our people have focused on providing support to the families of our Barminco employees, Trevor Davis and Dylan Langridge, caring for each other and investigating the incident.
“I visited Dugald River where I listened to the team as they continue to deal with the loss of their workmates. Whilst the mood was understandably sombre, the care and support everyone showed for each other was heartfelt and moving, demonstrating how great our people are.
“The establishment of the safety transformation taskforce is to support our Divisions deliver further improvement to our safety performance. The safety of our people is an absolute priority and we are committed to doing everything we can to ensure our people are safe in the workplace.”
