A 1991 survey of 48 mining companies, employing more than 24 000 employees, showed that disabling injury and disease rates continue to be the most common measurements of safety management effectivness in the Australian mining industry. Of the companies surveyed, 22 claimed to be making regular safety audits. Of these only two listed the improvement of audit scores among their goals for 1991.
Influenced by loss control management thinking, some managers have expanded the scope of their safety programs to include all accidental operational losses adversely affecting mine profitability.
Learning from their new experience with total quality management some managers are now recognising that successful safety management outcomes depend on the effective management of program inputs. They are thus turning away from measurements of accident consequences - the failures of the management system - to measurements of management control.
The new focus of safety management attention is now on corrective actions before accidents happen.