Revamp GGMC communication system - Major Gen. Joe Singh

Revamp GGMC communication system – Major Gen. Joe Singh

Jul 16, 2016 News

The mining pit which collapsed at Konawaruk and killed 18 year old Reynold Williams

In the wake of the mining pit collapse in May that claimed the life of an 18-year-old miner, Major General (retired) Joe Singh has called for a review of the communication and reporting system which the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) has in place.
The Major General spearheaded a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into that accident. According to Singh, a former Chairman of the GGMC Board of Directors, he found indications of a breakdown in communication.
“I found in the Konawaruk inquiry that the ranger reported to Georgetown because the mining engineer was in Georgetown,” he said, at a recent mining safety seminar. “The mining station at Mahdia did not know about this incident until the police came there to tell them about it.”
“So we need to look at the communication system. We need to have a 24-hour communication room at GGMC. I said so when I was Chairman of the Commission.
“I’d like to go into a room and see the six mining districts, with maps displayed, with the mining stations, the routes, the crossings etc.”
Singh was of the view that protocols relating to the chain of command and procedures to be followed in case of an accident should be administered with the diligence of a military operation. He also added that mining disasters can be avoided.
“All the mining pit collapses could have been avoided, if there was adherence to safety practices by (operation) owners and general managers, and enforcement of safe practices by property owners and GGMC field staff.”

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
GGMC had set out a list of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines in small and medium scale mining, to be followed.
It outlines how investigations into mining deaths are to be carried out, legal aspects and perhaps most important of all the causes of mining pit accidents and how to avoid them.
According to the Major General, however, the guidelines as they are set out, do not usually reach the ordinary miner.
“Occupational Health and Safety Regulations must be precise, concise and easily understood,” Singh said. “I’ve seen many of the things GGMC has produced, well intentioned.
“But when you ask the average miner to read and interpret what they understand, some of the words being used challenge them, even me at times.”
The former GGMC Chairman said that while the dissemination of information on safety by GGMC was admirable, he found its impact on miners less than desirable.
He expressed the need for increased field workers.
“I particularly asked the question, have you seen the GGMC advertisement on safe mining practices in the newspaper. And the person said, we don’t (even) get newspapers here. Have you seen it at the mining station? Yes, but it’s hard to read. You need people on the ground to break this down in simple words.”
He added that training clusters and videos such as those which were developed by the Mining School being administered by GGMC should be aggressively promoted and distributed.

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