The Senior Manager of Community Relations, Africa at AngloGold Ashanti (AGA), Emmanuel Baidoo, who made the call, stressed the need for mining companies to ensure host communities were made an integral part of their safety regimes.

Contributing to a panel discussion at a mining conference in Accra, he said such a move would facilitate risk mitigation and also ensure that the safety culture of mining companies was mainstreamed in the community.

The discussion was on the topic, “Fostering safety-first culture through innovative community engagement.” 

The presence of mining companies in the community brings about some risk exposures to both mine workers and residents of mining communities.

As required by regulation and international best practices, mining companies are expected to anticipate those risks and develop mitigation mechanisms to deal with them.

With respect to safety, companies are expected to put in place systems, policies and interventions that ensure that people come to work and go home safely.

There should be measures that impact the safety of the community.

However, the latest report by the Ghana Chamber of Mines (GCM) indicates that in 2024, the incidence of mine-related injuries showed a mixed trend. Whereas first aid and serious injuries recorded year-on-year increases, fatal injuries declined.

First aid injuries increased from 162 in 2023, to 222 in 2024. This represents a 37 per cent deterioration in the frequency of first aid injuries.

In the same vein, the frequency of serious injuries increased by 152.9 per cent, from 17 in 2023 to 43 in 2024.

There are also concerns about the insecurity that illegal mining activities continue to pose to legal operations. 

Mr Baidoo said AGA had strictly adhered to all safety protocols and would not renege on that responsibility.

He said mining companies also needed to explore how to maximise the opportunities their presence brought to the host communities.

Using AGA's operation in Ghana, particularly Obuasi, as a case study, Mr Baidoo said the company was running a robust road safety campaign in the area, in collaboration with all the security stakeholders, targeted to reduce road crashes and fatalities in that area.

"We want to ensure that our safety culture is imbibed into the community safety culture," he added.

The senior manager further said that safety culture at mining companies needed to be taken to the doorstep of the community for mutual benefit.

"We should budget and run community safety as part of our corporate investment.

“Conflict situations arise when the existence of a company is perpetuating the risks, and the company is not proactive.

But for AGA, we are very proactive about our safety issues,” he said.