INNOVATION March-April 2017

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West has completed the online training modules and is working to apply the tools and information supplied by the council to policies and procedures on the site. “We’ve always known that having diversity in the workforce is important and makes for better decisions,” West says, “but the GEM program has provided us with the science and the math so it speaks to our leaders who are mostly engineers and business people. When you provide data, it’s much more powerful.” The program team at Gibraltar is currently looking at barriers to women joining the blasting team. The first female blast helper recently started, so the trainers are looking at barriers, such as wording in the safety operating procedures, that could be discouraging more women from joining the crew. Because It’s 2133 Multinational professional services firm Ernst & Young predicts it will take another 117 years for women to achieve gender parity in the workplace. It is imperative that we speed this timeframe up for economic, social and practical reasons. The mining industry faces a unique set of challenges, and programs like Creating Choices and GEM directly address these. Mining is a sector in transition, and progress is slow and inconsistent across the industry. Gender-inclusive workplaces are respectful and safe. They are flexible enough for men and women to balance their lives and pursue non- linear career paths. They try to build and track the number of women in the organization, on the board and in senior management positions, and ask why when women leave. Does this sound like your workplace? If not, what are you going to do about it? v

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