Newmont Mining Corporation

Butte, Montana

Making safety personal for mine engineering students increases the chance that they will enter the workforce with zero tolerance for incidents. While this concept sounds simple, ingraining mine safety at the university level is not widespread.

During Montana Tech's homecoming weekend, Newmont took our Safety Journey message to the school with the goal of reinforcing the importance of a safe work environment among students and faculty. Marc LeVier, senior director of Metallurgical Research and Development, and Jack Tryon, safety officer for Metallurgical Services, inspected the school's metallurgical lab and use of personal protective equipment. While there, they also lectured about proactively identifying and remedying potential accidents – before they occur.

Newmont also sponsored a visit by Chad Hymas, considered by the Wall Street Journal as one of the world's most inspirational speakers, who gave motivational presentations as part of the homecoming festivities. Hymas spoke 11 times that weekend, inspiring roughly 300 community members, Montana Tech alumni and the school's athletic teams. During these presentations, Hymas spoke about what is possible when "you take the time to do things right."

"This experience will improve safety throughout our industry, no matter who the students go on to work for," LeVier said. "We received tremendous community response and gratitude for making this investment in our future workforce."

LeVier hopes Newmont and other mining companies will continue teaching safety to mining students worldwide. Bernie Hudson, manager, HSLP systems, firmly agrees with this approach.

"The future of mining lies within our coming generations," Hudson said. "It is absolutely imperative for us to emphasize the importance of a safe work culture early and to develop our future leaders so they understand what demonstrating leadership in safety is all about."

November 30, 2010