CISM in Papua New Guinea
by Michael Tunnecliffe

At Porgera in the Enga Province of the PNG highlands, gold mining is conducted by Porgera Joint Venture (PJV), under the management of the Placer mining company.

Although the organisation has an enviable safety record and constantly emphasises safe working practices, the need to establish employee support procedures as part of an on-going Risk Management program has been recognised. At the invitation of Loss Control Superintendent, Bruce Gray, I conducted two, three-day CISM training courses, on site for PJV employees. The courses, in March 1999, included both Expatriates and Nationals working at the mine.

In group discussions to establish a Critical Incident Response plan, course participants defined a critical incident as any event that occurs on or off- site, affecting PJV employees or contractors, which may result in death, serious injury or major loss.

PJV now has in place, a draft CIR plan which is being used as a basis for discussion to determine what further training is required. A co- operative initiative by Denis Donkin and Orawi Komi from the Training Department, will result in Emergency Support Network stress awareness raising materials being translated into `Pidgin' to allow greater access to the information by Nationals working at the mine. The Training Department has also given suggestions on more culturally appropriate CISM concepts, to meet the needs of Nationals from all over PNG, who make up around 86% of the PJV work group.

The challenge PJV has in developing and maintaining effective employee support programs is multi-faceted. Apart from the cultural diversity, the organisation has a large part of its work group on fly-in, fly-out rosters, the usual rigours associated with the mining industry, and a need to maintain a good relationship with the local community. An enormous challenge for all.