At LXML, we care about the safety of our employees, families, and communities
At LXML, we care about the safety of our employees, families, and communities
As an international mining company, safety is always our first priority. We Think Safety First by embedding safety as a personal value for all our employees, in everything we do every day. At a corporate level – safety is a critical area under the Safety, Health, Environment, and Community (SHEC) department. At an operational level - standards, procedures, monitoring and evaluation measures, initiatives and a conducive working environment in place to ensure employees have the tools and capability to work safely. We know that all workplace incidents are preventable, and by ensuring we have the right procedures, behaviour, and equipment, we can reinforce this and avoid accidents or injuries.
Mr Viboon Sithomolada, Manager of Safety, Health, Environment, Community Department, LXML gives us some insights on safety at Sepon.
1. Why is safety important at MMG LXML Sepon?
MMG LXML Sepon (LXML) has made significant achievements year after year. In my opinion, Sepon has been a flagship of the mining industry in Laos and is well recognised internationally. I certainly think one of the secret recipes to this continuing success is that, at Sepon, we are genuinely committed to a principle of protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees .
It is our value that we always think safety first. We believe that all injuries in our workplace are preventable. To me, safety means that my colleagues and I can come to work and return home to our family and friends without an injury every time. It is about assuring that no one has to get seriously injured or worse from doing a job. This gives comfort to our family and loved ones knowing we will be safe and sound at work all the time.
Based on industry experiences around the world, it has been shown time and time again that by getting safety right, productivity tends to also improve over time as well. This is because a strong safety leadership drives positive change in personnel's behaviours and mindsets.
2. What does MMG LXML Sepon do to improve safety?
Our vision for safety is to make the Sepon mine injury free. We will achieve this by maintaining strong leadership on safety and working together with everyone to continuously improve safety awareness, systems and procedures. We are building a safety culture where our employees care for each other and take personal responsibility for their own safety and the safety of others.
3. What were some of the successes and key learnings?
We continue to maintain a low total recordable injury rate, currently at around 0.87, that is, less than one recordable injury per million hours worked. However, we continue to strive for even further reduction.
We have a process in place to learn from past incidents and take appropriate actions to prevent them from reoccurring. We also proactively assess risks in our operations, improve our controls to mitigate the risks to people and verify their effectiveness.
4. What are the key factors and players in ensuring safety at work?
While good systems and processes are important to manage safety effectively, it all comes down to people having the right skills and attitude and making the right choices. They can choose to do every step of the job safely or take a shortcut and put themselves at risk just trying to get a job done. Therefore, we have initiated a program, known as Mou Tuen Mou (MTM), to make safety important to our people at a deep and personal level so they will make the right decision safely every time.
MTM Workgroup is made up of Lao employees with a mission to listen to the workforce and develop new and impactful ways for us to engage on safety at a deep and personal level. An objective of MTM is to help build a safety culture where everyone thinks carefully through the potential consequences of their actions and makes the right choices every time – a culture where people do this because they care for each other.
5. How is safety applicable to other companies?
I believe a good and reputable company with a potential for a long term growth looks after the health and safety of its employees. As industries are growing rapidly in Laos and there are more and more major constructions and factories, the concept of workplace safety is certainly more relevant today than ever before. Organisations and businesses in both private and public sectors can come together to lead and promote safety so that we all can ensure that our industries do not become a dangerous place for our future generations to enter for employment.
6. Personally, what inspires you to make safety a mantra in life?
I personally believe in helping others and doing good. And to me, safety is about doing positive things to help family, friends and colleagues from dangers that could cause a serious injury or even death. If what I do today can save someone's life in the future, I believe it will be a better merit than building a “7-storey temple”. I also think safety can be applied in leadership to inspire others to do the right things and put people first.
In my view, safety is also about developing good and essential habits. A safe behaviour that becomes a routine or habit can reduce a likelihood of having incidents or injuries in life. For example, one of my colleagues used to promote the benefits of wearing a seatbelt to his family and eventually got them into a habit of putting a seatbelt on every time they get in a car. One day they went on a road trip together in a minivan with two relatives from a different house.
His family fastened their seatbelts, but the relatives did not follow as they did not think it was necessary. Then something went wrong – their minivan went out of control and rolled over. All of his family members survived with minor injuries, but tragically his relatives were killed in the accident because they did not wear seatbelts.
It is scientifically proven that wearing a seatbelt in a car can significantly reduce the risk of a serious injury or death from road accidents.
The same goes for wearing a helmet while riding a motorbike. Many countries around the world see the importance of seatbelts and helmets and have mandated them by law. And yet, many people in our country still do not wear them and choose not to.
The death toll from road accidents per capita in Laos is among the worst in Asia, as traffic rules are simply not being followed.
If we can spread safety awareness and get more people to get into the habits of driving responsibly and wearing seatbelts or helmets, setting the right example for our children, I am sure that there will be less fatal accidents on the roads and many lives will be saved. I hope we can inspire more people to campaign for safety and make our communities a safer place to live in.
