The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME) is the peak resource service in WA that supports an innovative and competitive Western Australian mining, oil and gas and resources sector.The health and safety of workers is of paramount importance, therefore, CME organises an annual two-day Underground Mines Emergency Response Competition that brings together Emergency Response Teams (ERTs) from mine sites across the State.
The ERTs compete against each other in simulated emergency situations, with the ultimate goal of improving emergency response skills and knowledge.
An ERT is a group of people who prepare for and respond to any emergency incident, a natural disaster or an interruption of business operations. The Metal X Higginsville Gold site team consists of staff members from Metal X, contractor Hamptons, ACM and our very own Cater Care Services employee, Chloe Sykes.
The Health and Safety objectives of Metals X and Cater Care is to provide a safe and healthy place of work for all personnel associated with each Company’s activities, driving a commitment to the systematic identification and management of hazards and risks to acceptable levels.
The CME competition set up realistic, potential emergency scenarios that the teams might have to respond to, and with more than 200 competitors, it’s a significant accomplishment to win an event.
In a close competition, the newly formed Higginsville ERT won the 2015 category for Team Skills; and also took out third place for Best New Team Captain.
Chloe, who has been at Higginsville for the past 15 months as our Administration Utility, said, “Being involved in the ERT has been an amazing experience. It has pushed my comfort zones many times over, but at the end of the day, I am extremely proud that I can help in the unlikely event of an emergency.”
Chris Mardon, General Manager at Higginsville, congratulated their winning Team and said, “I am happy to report that they performed beyond expectations and won the Team Skills event (which was described by a 25 year mines rescue veteran as “the most challenging team skills scenario he had ever seen”). This is a major achievement for a team competing in their first mines rescue event.”
