In collaboration with Uskudar University Faculty of Health Sciences Occupational Health and Safety Department and the Occupational Safety, Occupational Health and Environmental Health Application and Research Center (ÜSGÜMER), an event titled “A Sustainability Journey: The EHS Construction Process from Diagnosis to Treatment at Gümüştaş Mining” was organized. Mehmet Osmanoğlu, Safety, Environment, and Health Manager from Gümüştaş Mining, attended the event as a guest speaker. Osmanoğlu shared his experiences regarding sustainability and safety culture in mining with the students. Furthermore, within the scope of the event, Gümüştaş Mining donated training and application equipment to the Uskudar University Occupational Health and Safety Laboratory. This support aims for students to receive more application-based training closer to real field conditions in a laboratory environment.
Gümüştaş Mining Occupational Safety Specialist Mehmet Emre Ertürk, faculty members, and students attended the event held at Uskudar University Çarşı Campus Emirnebi 2 Conference Hall.
In this context, Occupational Health and Safety Department students met with industry representatives at an important event where up-to-date information and experiences on safety, environment, and health practices in the mining sector were shared.
“Culture is not formed before three generations”
Osmanoğlu emphasized that culture is as crucial as safety and sustainability in mining, stating that this process is not a short-term transformation. Osmanoğlu said: “The word culture, in our country, is not something that can be formed before three generations. Think of it like our ability to talk about what our grandfather, father, and we have seen. The main core issue here is to evolve some learned practices into operational truths.”
“Our primary goal is for people to return home healthy”
Osmanoğlu stated that people are at the heart of occupational health, safety, and environment policies; “At the very core of what we do is ensuring people return home healthy and peaceful. According to the World Health Organization’s definition, we are trying to send them home physically and mentally capable. If this activity does not spread to every level of the organization, we have no chance to talk about culture here. In this context, we are also questioning the classic ‘Zero Accident’ approach. We somewhat broke this motto. We started with injury statistics. The Bradley Curve tells us this: ‘You cannot prevent an accident unless a job transforms into a cultural movement.’”
“Processes are not just a legal responsibility, but a corporate choice”
Osmanoğlu, who also referred to international standards such as EBRD, ISO, BEKRA/SEVESO, LOPA, and HAZOP in his presentation, emphasized that these processes are not just a legal obligation but a corporate choice. Osmanoğlu said: “In mining, you don't just work within the confines of the workplace; you work with the region, the community, and nature. This is precisely what we call responsible mining.”
“We are trying to build a mining culture in Turkey”
Osmanoğlu also drew attention to the sustainability of the process; “Our work is not a production line that will stop and end. As long as humans exist, as long as the organization exists, this process will continue. Our diagnosis is clear, we have set our treatment. It's a long journey, but we are trying to build a mining culture in Turkey.”
Subsequently, examples of good practices carried out within the framework of the 'zero accident' target, including the establishment of Safety-Environment-Health (SEH) management systems in mining activities, risk assessment processes, sustainability approach, regulatory compliance, and field applications of management systems like ISO 14001 and ISO 45001, were shared with the students.
After students' questions were answered, the event concluded with a certificate presentation.
Concrete contribution to university-industry collaboration
Within the scope of the event, Gümüştaş Mining also provided grant support consisting of personal protective equipment and measurement equipment to be used in training and applications for the Uskudar University Çarşı Campus Occupational Health and Safety Laboratory.
Dr. Lecturer Sertaç Temur and Research Assistant Ender Sezen played active roles in planning the process and developing university-industry collaboration.
Among the donated equipment were; earplugs, face shields, hard hats, warning vests, and a Mastech Environment Meter Ms6300 model 5-parameter environmental measuring device (noise, illumination, temperature, relative humidity, air flow velocity).
This support aims for students to receive more application-based training closer to real field conditions in a laboratory environment.