The impact of caring relationships on safety performance: ‘reaching the hearts and minds of people’
J Loubser

The concept of caring is in most cases confused with material needs and not psychological needs. By giving employees a job, most managers think that employees should be grateful and return the favour by being loyal, productive and working safely. Other managers hold the view that employees can be lucky to have a job.
To show and demonstrate that management are caring for the safety of the workforce requires involvement, dedication and commitment. Obtaining the trust and respect of the workforce should be the main thrust of any organization because within trust and respect lie the secret of optimal safety performance.
In the last 70 years, all the fatalities and serious injuries that occurred in the mining industry can be traced back to one thing, noncaring. The same safety non-compliances are still observed, reported and planned against as 70 years ago, and strange as it may sound, the same injuries occur the same way.
The question could be asked: Does the mining industry need more risk assessments? More codes of conduct? More engineering. Or does the mining industry need more caring?