Ontario mining operation Barrick-Hemlo earns national workplace safety recognition with the J.T. Ryan Award, presented annually to the metal mine with the lowest incident rates in Canada. This is the first time Barrick-Hemlo has received the national award; it has received the Regional J.T. Ryan Award for safest metal mine in Ontario seven times.

General Manager Andrew Baumen, Health, Safety and Training Superintendent Peter Calnan, and Worker Safety Inspector Denis Bilodeau accepted the award on behalf of Barrick-Hemlo Williams mine employees during a special Canadian Institute of Mining award presentation held in May in Vancouver, Canada.

“We are truly honoured to receive this prestigious award,” says Baumen. “This is a real credit to all the employees who work at Barrick-Hemlo Williams. They are the ones who made this happen.”

“Over many years, Barrick-Hemlo employees have progressively improved their safety performance and I believe this culture is embedded in how we think and work every day,” he says. “For example, in 2013 we had our best safety performance in our 28-year history.”

Baumen attributes the site’s safety success to a strong safety culture and teamwork.

“Our cornerstone programs have been built around visible leadership,” Andrew explains. “More specifically, it’s a combination of our Joint Health and Safety Committees, Five-Point Safety System, team-based field level risk assessments, training programs, and standard operating procedures, that bring our people together around working safely and living healthier lives. At the end of the day, it’s our people and their commitment to sending every person home, safe and healthy, every day.”

Congratulations to the employees at Barrick-Hemlo for this outstanding achievement!