MPUMI SITHOLE | Women, mining and the next frontier in zero harm

Few industries have institutionalised safety with the same rigour as mining. It informs every stage of the operating model, from planning and risk assessment to execution and review. At its centre is the pursuit of zero harm: the conviction that every incident is preventable, every risk needs attention, and every person should return home safely. This ambition has shaped the modern mining industry.

The gains made over time show what becomes possible when an industry treats a risk as a shared priority, backed by sustained leadership, investment and accountability. Much of that progress comes from what the industry calls “visible felt leadership”: leaders present on site, engaged with employees, showing through their actions that safety is personal. This is how safety became an ethos that the industry lives by.

These were some of the themes that came through strongly recently at the third annual Women in Mining South Africa (WiMSA) Symposium, which tackled the growing role of women in the industry while highlighting the importance of creating workplaces where women feel able to speak up, participate fully and build their careers with confidence.

• Sithole is executive head of corporate affairs at Thungela
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