Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

KIVALLIQ
Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. is hoping to leave the days of idle trucks and no-show employees at its Meadowbank gold mine in the past this spring, with newly hired human resources liaison officers keeping tabs on employees in Kivalliq communities.

A crew of haul truck drivers and heavy equipment operators receive a pre-shift briefing and safety talk from supervisor Charlie O'Hara. - photo courtesy of Agnico-Eagle

On average last year, the mine had 22 people absent per day, prompting the hiring of the liaisons, co-sponsored by the company and the hamlets, who will contact Meadowbank employees the day before they are scheduled to return to the mine site, make sure they are good to go, and facilitate rides to their charter flights if needed, spokesperson Dale Coffin said.

"There's a number of reasons why people may be absent from work," Coffin said. "And unfortunately, in a fly-in, fly-out, your ride comes once a week. So if you miss your ride, that's it.

"Everybody's trying to move forward in the best way possible and identify what initiatives could be taken to help people better manage as they take on the responsibility of working at Meadowbank and being away for 14 days at a time."

Keith Collier, community economic development officer of Arviat, oversees the hamlet's diamond driller's training program, which trains drillers helpers to work with contracted companies on exploration and mine sites.

During the course, one of the things emphasized in the Arviat Diamond Driller's Training program is the importance of attendance and punctuality when working on a mining site, Collier said.

"It's obviously very important if you're working on a drill," he said. "You can't be holding up a drill, it's an expensive piece of equipment to operate."

Idle equipment each shift is one of the major costs that comes with absenteeism, Coffin said.

"That's a 100-tonne truck that's not moving," Coffin said. "When there's a vehicle that's not running, we're not producing until we're able to find a replacement driver," he said, noting the additional cost of recruiting a new worker incurred if the absent employee does not return.

Despite Inuit staff turnover of 130 per cent in 2011, Meadowbank has maintained an above 38 per cent Inuit labour force, from the Kivalliq region.

The liaisons hired will also be working with employees to help manage the family challenges that come with being away from home for two weeks at a time.

"We're seeing this as an opportunity to work with the communities more in identifying what some of the challenges are, and how we could overcome them, thinking outside the box," Coffin said.

Since the beginning of the year, Agnico has hired human resource liaison officers in Arviat, Repulse Bay, Whale Cove, and are in the process of hiring an officer for Chesterfield Inlet. In Baker Lake -- where the bulk of the mine's Inuit labour force resides -- and Rankin Inlet, Agnico-Eagle has its own offices, and staff act as liaisons in those hamlets.

The issue of absenteeism has shown signs of improvement since efforts have been in place to address the issue, Coffin said, including for example last month in Arviat, when 23 of 25 workers made their shift, with the remaining two staying home for medical reasons.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.