Barrick Gold : Be Prepared

Barrick holds five-day Global Emergency Response Summit in Nevada
September 5, 2018

A parked vehicle explodes into a flaming inferno while the windows of a nearby building begin to seep thick, black smoke. Meanwhile, an injured man has fallen into a crevasse requiring immediate medical attention and evacuation, while a crew of rescue workers are searching a confined, smoke-filled corridor for signs of survivors. Scenes that resembled something out of an action-packed Hollywood movie were the backdrop for Barrick's emergency response teams performing mock safety trainings in Reno and Carson City, Nevada, in late August.

The training was part of the Company's Global Emergency Response Summit, a five-day event during which emergency response team members from Barrick operations in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Zambia participated in a series of rigorous emergency-response training exercises. The scenarios were designed to prepare mining teams for real-life events, and cross-train the organization's leading emergency responders.

"Being prepared for an emergency event is a core element of the Barrick Safety Management System.

Barrick safety and rescue teams from across the Company came together in August for the Global Emergency Response Summit in Nevada. Teams engaged in various safety and rescue scenarios, including firefighting drills like this.

"Being prepared for an emergency event is a core element of the Barrick Safety Management System. It is important that our emergency response teams receive the proper training, practice what they have learned, and develop emergency response plans based on their site risks," says Ann Masse, Vice President of Health, Safety and Environment at Barrick.

Teams also trained in high angle rope rescues.

Over the course of the week, about 60 participants in total engaged in emergency-response simulations, including a structural collapse, search and extraction, hazmat response, high-angle rope rescue, and firefighting drills. With so many different countries represented at the Summit, communication barriers could have been an issue. But skilled translators worked with crews to ensure accurate communication at all times.

"Clear communication is a vital component to the success of any operation, especially in an emergency-response situation where you are working under high stress levels," says Simon Telamantes, a roaster operator at Barrick Nevada's Goldstrike mine. Telamantes, a native Spanish speaker, was tasked with translating for colleagues from Peru, Chile, and Argentina, explaining each scenario and execution plan in English and Spanish.

Summit participants prepare to don their safety and rescue gear.

"Practicing rescue efforts prepares us for unforeseen events, and by working with our fellow rescuers we learn the names of certain rescue tools and techniques in their native language. It helps us all work together while setting exceptionally high safety standards regardless of where we operate in the world," Telamantes says.

The Pueblo Viejo mine, located in the Dominican Republic, sent a team that included Senior Emergency Response Advisor Paul Clark and Supervisor Aneury Galan. Both found the differences in rescue techniques between mine sites to be important learning opportunities.

Aneury Galan (center) of the Pueblo Viejo mine addresses his team.

"Some of our rescue techniques at Pueblo Viejo differ from those we have seen during the training, mainly because of the way the mine is structured and the materials we use," Clark says. "It has been informative to see how other mines would use a different technique unique to their site. We're able to take these new techniques home and share them with the entire safety team to see if it is something that would make sense to implement at our mine."

Executing an event with global participation required months of planning and important partnership development with fire districts in Reno and Carson City. Miguel Segovia, Chief of Emergency Response at Barrick Nevada's Goldstrike operation, along with a summit task force that included Barrick's Rich Maier, Michelle Matheus, Mitchell Hinton, Clancy Harman, Daniel Pruett, Peggy Enslinger, Dan West and Aaron Weight, was charged with executing the momentous event.

Shawn Frydenall of the Turquoise Ridge mine.

"I felt like a proud father when the Reno Fire Department told me how impressed they were with Barrick's rescue teams and how our rescue efforts were flawless in execution. Anytime you receive an accolade like that, it exemplifies how our dedication to safety is moving us in the right direction of setting an international standard," Segovia says.

Barrick Nevada CEO Bill MacNevin attended the event, as did a number of other senior Barrick leaders. [Watch the video below to hear our leaders talk about the Summit.]

Barrick Nevada CEO Bill MacNevin (left) shares a laugh with an emergency responder.

"Without safety, we do not have a thriving mining business," MacNevin says. "That is why all our employees are responsible for safety in our mines, exploration, closure sites, and in the communities where we operate. Management establishes safety goals, requires accountability for performance, and provides the necessary resources. Safe production is always our goal, and on-the-ground training exercise helps our emergency responders stay committed to continuous improvement in safety performance."