Mining companies urged to take advantage of AI to prevent on-site fatalities

Mrs Akua Berantuo Armooh, President, Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Practitioners Association of Ghana (SHEQPA-GH), has urged mining companies to adapt new Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital tools to prevent fatalities on mining sites.

“We want all the industries to take advantage of new technologies to prevent fatalities on site. We feel that we’ve come such a long way, and fatality shouldn’t be happening in the mining space,” she said.

Mrs Armooh made the call at the maiden national conference on health and safety of SHEQPA, in Accra, and its observation of the 2025 World Day for Health and Safety at Work on the theme: “Revolutionising Health and Safety: The Role of AI and Digitalisation at Work.”

The conference was to provide a platform for practitioners, policymakers, and industry leaders to examine how emerging technologies were reshaping workplace safety and risk management.

Mrs Armooh said success meant that leaders, especially general managers of the mines and safety practitioners took safety seriously.

“Last week, there’s been a fatality in Peru, and we are not immuned to it because of the size of the equipment we have on site. So, for us, we are looking forward to collaborating effectively with the leaders to understand our role so that we prevent fatalities and injuries on sites,” she added.

Mr Richard Kofi Adjei, the Chief Inspector of Mines, Minerals Commission, said the advent of AI and digital technology had opened new avenues for enhancing risk-based solution, streamlining operations and fostering a proactive risk management.

One of the most significant advancements in the realm of health and safety, he said, was the use of predictive analytics empowered by AI. 

He noted that mobile applications, wearable devices, and digital dashboards reported hazards, assessed safety protocols, and received instant feedback on their performances. 

By investing in mobility and creating solutions, Mr Adjei said, the nation could ensure that its workforce was not only compliant, but also competent in navigating the complexities of the approach.

He urged companies to prioritise safety over cost, explaining that “If you lose the people, then what’s the essence of the budget?”

Citing an example of the relevance of using AI and digital tools, Mr Adjei said: “In the mine, the dumpers are very high, like the dump trucks that cut the oil from the pits to the plant. They are very high equipment so that when somebody, the driver or the operator is fatigued, these sensors will shake him up to arise to his control.

“There’s no I’m sleeping or I’m tired. And this thing will be registered at the control room for the person to be changed to rest and continue his or her work later. So it’s a very important tool.”

Dr Rashid Pelpuo, the Minister of Labour, Jobs and Employment,  in a statement read on his behalf on workplace safety, said when people were employed to work, they did not cease to be human beings and urged employers to allow employees to voice out their problems, stressing that people don’t cease to be humans because they were employed.

Voicing out their problems, he said, could help it to be addressed through a social dialogue for amicable solutions to be found without turning the workplace into a “war zone.”

“They (workers) are just human beings with families, friends, like any of us who come to work for economic reasons. They are still human beings and all the rights that they have in their homes, they have the same rights.

“So when there is something bothering them, they have the right to talk. The environment within which they work, they have the right to demand for conducive environment, and then we have social protection,” he added.

Dr. Koduah Dapaah, Managing Partner for K MNJ Consults, said safety was a team work, saying: “If you have strong supervisors, you gain safety,” urging companies to build the capacity of supervisors to make them more competent to ensure safety.

“Safety is a right and I should go to work and come back safely without losing a single hair of mine. No one should be sacrificed for statistics. Whatever be the case, the statistics should be 0.00. We should not accept the statics of 0.01 because no life should be lost for somebody to be given a bonus that statistics are reducing,” he emphasised.

Source: GNA

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