This presentation introduces a practical cognitive readiness framework for mining operations that extends traditional fitness-for-work concepts beyond physical impairment and fatigue. The framework combines cognitive science, psychosocial risk management and frontline leadership practices to help organisations anticipate when decision quality may degrade despite workers being technically competent and compliant. While these disciplines are often examined independently, this presentation demonstrates how they interact in operational settings and provides a model for integrating them into existing safety systems. The novelty of this paper is the application of cognitive readiness as a leading indicator of safety performance, reframing unsafe acts as predictable outcomes of cognitive and psychosocial conditions rather than failures of compliance or intent. The concepts and processes of procedural safety have plateaued for many years now, and whilst the idea of human factors is not new, the exploration and understanding of how the brain works, and the impact it has on individual performance as well as collective performance (resulting in safety cultures) is continuously evolving, this presentation includes current research that highlights the cognitive processes as tools that place them as leading indicators of safety performance. Serious incidents in mining rarely occur due to a lack of training, technical capability or procedural guidance. More often, they arise when capable individuals make compromised decisions under fatigue, time pressure or cognitive overload. Traditional safety approaches emphasise compliance and hazard control but do not fully account for how humans process information and make decisions in dynamic environments. Contemporary neuroscience shows that performance variability is a natural outcome of cognitive system limitations interacting with operating conditions.