Mining Publication: The Challenge of Enforcing Safety Rules in Remote Hazardous Work Areas

Are the safety rules in your work place effective? Do supervisors enforce them as they should? Do supervisors abide by these rules? Safety rules are an important aspect of many company safety programs, particularly if employees must work in an intrinsically hazardous environment such as a coal mine. However, for various reasons, supervisors sometimes fail to enforce safety rules (Arvey & Jones, 1985; Hartshorn, 1998). This paper presents some findings obtained from interviews with coal miners about why supervisors sometimes fail to enforce an important mine safety rule. It also contains a few suggestions addressing what could be done to help supervisors perform this job function more effectively.