Work Culture, Safety, Skills and Gender Issues in a ... · Work Culture, Safety, Skills and Gender...

Work Culture, Safety, Skills and Gender Issues in a Changing

Mining Context

Johannesburg 26 September 2013

Professor Lena Abrahamsson

Professor Jan Johansson Centre of Advanced Mining and Metallurgy, CAMM

Luleå University of Technology

Work Culture, Safety, Skills and Gender Issues in a Changing Mining Context

26 Sept 2013 Prof. Lena Abrahamsson & Prof. Jan Johansson, Luleå University of Technology 2

Safety, skills and sustainability in a changing mining context

Safety is the strongest driver for automation – skills, learning, quality, innovation

Work environment, work organisation and workplace culture – important factors for a company’s ability to

develop an effective, flexible and yet sustainable production

Examples from LKAB’s underground iron ore mine in Kiruna – empirical material from a case study on changing

mine work at LKAB’s (Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB) underground iron ore mine in Kiruna, in the very north of Sweden

– interviews, observations and analysis of current as well as historical documents from 1957 until today

– a study of how individuals create and recreate identity and gender when meeting new technology in a changing work organisation



Short historical background

1696 – the iron ore in Kirunavaara was

mentioned for the first time

1870 – the source of ore became of

commercial interest

1890 – the company LKAB was formed

1900 – the city of Kiruna was born and

built – totally dependent on the mine,

and still is today

1952 – LKAB started to use underground

mining (since the ore body was too deep)

1962 – the very last work in the open pit

was finished – it is around this time from which

we will start our story

We will ‘visit’ the underground mining workplaces in 1957, 1969, 1985 and 2013



Underground mining in LKAB’s iron ore mine, Kiruna, Sweden

Sub-level caving – the ore is mined and

transported via galleries and shafts, up to surface level for concentration and converting

The process has two main parts: – development and caving

Five work elements in both: – drilling, loading, blasting,

charging, transport/dumping

After discharging the ore is crushed and then transported up to ground level for converting and concentration – chute loading,

transport/dumping, skip loading, skip hoisting



Sub-level caving



Visits at the mine in Kiruna 1957 and 1969

1957 Hard physical work in an

extremely poor work environment – and a close relationship

between the mining worker and the mountain. Essential to be able to read the mountain;

• in order to optimize his earnings - minimize the drilling and save explosives in order to increase his earnings

• in order to avoid accidents

– standardized work tasks – important to be vigilant in all

work tasks

1969 Still physically very heavy

work – even though the working

environment has been improved, especially in terms of the manual loading

– more heavy drill steel during the same amount of time

– the danger of the mountain remains

– but also from the diesel-driven trucks and loaders that generate harmful gases

– the driller’s expert skills has diminished because the elementary work tasks have been standardised



Visits at the mine in Kiruna 1985 and 2013

1985 The mining work has clearly a

different character than before – the work environment is not good, but

it is decidedly better – air-conditioned control rooms – electrical power for rockslide loading

has decreased diesel gases – working routines have been more

standardised – large portions of the operations on the

main level have been automated – remote chute loading from centralised

control room under ground – automated trains

2013 The degree of automation has

increased and more work tasks have become remotely controlled

– drilling and loading machines – shortly there will almost only be service

work underground – more like a process industry

A production centre above ground – a clean and pleasant work environment

with a beautiful panoramic view of the city

– the operator makes only occasional visits to the machine that he or she remote controls

Teams of operators – a transition from solitary work in a

machine carriage to joint operating teams

– operators alternate between a variety of work tasks on the seventh floor

– in the future a broader position will probably be created – ”mine operator”



Reduced number of accidents

Safety seems to be the strongest driver for automation of mining operations

Mechanization and automation has improved safety in a significant way in underground mining



The worker’s role in the technical system is changing

The level of technology has increased constantly – towards automation and remote control of more and more of

the production processes

The relationship between the person and the rock changes – between the man and the mountain there is always a

machine and that machine is getting larger and larger – the distance grows by automation and advanced remote

control technology – for some of the workers the actual contact with the rock will

be minimal

Better safety and physical work environment The number of work mates (mining workers)

decreases New types of work tasks

– remote control, underground work is performed above ground, a move into a ‘white-collar environment’

Qualification transformations – a transformation from the craftsmanlike qualification

• autonomy, manual skills and sensitivity to material (‘rock-sense’)

– into more technical qualifications • abstract knowledge necessary to handle the new advanced machines



Contradictory qualification movements

Upskilling – rapidly changing skill demands, more theoretical and comprehensive

tasks – tacit knowledge is formalised into theoretical knowledge, computerised – new demands on teamwork and comprehensive understanding of

production flow Deskilling

– fragmentation of individual craft knowledge and whole tasks – the work tasks seem much simpler when they have been moved out of

their context, i.e. the physical place where the loading or drilling machines work

• since they do not need to be conducted in a difficult and tough work environment, the aura of ‘job secrets’ and tacit knowledge or craftsmanlike qualifications disappears

Reskilling – a need for a new type of skills, not based on physical strength but on

concentration and tactile ability, for example to drive a truck via TV-monitor and joystick

– these new knowledge’s and skills are in some aspects more abstract and theoretical than the old ones, but in other aspects still bodily and tacit, only in another way



All this affect workplace cultures and identities

People are adapting to the new demands – it is other things that are important today

– there is a very different type of persons and competences that the company will recruit in the future?

This process is not at all simple and not without resistance



The strength of the workplace culture

The worker identity lag – the formal organisational structure (and the official company

policy) can be a modern, professional and “high-tech” organisation

– but the symbols of the work can still be old-fashioned in some aspects, based on the old type of mining work

• male workers tend to distance themselves from work or behaviour that in some way might be related to “femininity” or “unmanliness”

• e.g. using lifting equipment or putting safety first • also tendencies of a hesitant attitude towards technological

development, and seeing the new technology as a threat to the uniqueness of mining work

– the identity, cultural and symbolic aspects of work seem to lag behind the more structural changes at the workplace

What is the problem? – such attitudes can counteract with the company’s need for

renewal and development both in the organisation and technical progression

– hinder for safety



“The 7th sky”

The importance of being a “real mining worker” – when the first front loaders were

moved from underground up to the level 7 in the office building

– the workers dressed up in working gears

– and went for changing clothes after every shift

– in spite of the fact that they were just as clean as when they arrived

– after a year or so they stopped doing so

– but it is understandable that they first wanted to be seen as “real miners”

– the remote control workers were seen as weaker and womanish

Photo

LKAB



“Gender” – an important part of workplace culture

The changes are also a “threat” to the local miner-masculinity rooted in the old type of mining work and identity – the connections between mining work and

a special form of masculinity make the worker identity lag stronger and longer

But it is not only a question of restoring the old culture or identity – there are also indications of change – new types of worker identity has started to

emerge – not only in the workplace cultures, but

also in the local surrounding society



There have been quite thorough changes for the miners as a

professional group

New technology and a changing work organisation – the number of fatal accidents has decreased significantly – new qualification demands and new work tasks – knowledge about the rock is still important for the

underground miners, the ability to read the rock (but in another way)

– for the new type of miners on ‘the 7th floor’, it is also a question of more abstract knowledge

The old type of macho-behaviour is challenged – “the worker identity lag” creates problem for the company – gives difficulties in adapting to higher demands on safety and

new technology

The new demands on safety, skills and sustainability in mining give no space for the old types of attitudes or ideals



Concluding reflections

What actions must be taken to make this change possible?

What problems/challenges encountered and how do you manage these?



Lessons learned from 50 years of technological development

Involve workers and local unions in planning of new production and technology

Move people away from production areas by automation and remote control

Systematic safety and work environment efforts – together with the local unions

Create attractive workplaces built on a multi-skilled and competent work force – and high technology

Build a competent work force by job rotation, job enlargement a training at work

Challenge the old type of macho-behaviour Recruit women for underground work

Take responsibility for a social sustainable society and avoid fly-in – fly out

Work actively with ecological sustainability

Involve research from social science



Professor Lena Abrahamsson Luleå University of Technology SE-971 87 Luleå Sweden Email: [email protected] Phone: +46 70 3592107 Professor Jan Johansson Luleå University of Technology SE-971 87 Luleå Sweden Email: [email protected] Phone: +46 70 5593039

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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