Ethics basically means taking various moral aspects of a
business or an activity under consideration. Most businesses run in sync with
profits and not in ethical range, but when safety is paramount in a business,
such as mining, ethics play a major role in determining how a business takes
such aspects into consideration. Ethical mining companies are not rare, but
they are not common either. There is no central mining governing body that
mandates ethical mining for mining companies, hence this is purely a decision
that the firm involved has to take.
This creates different kinds of complications for mines, and
more so for the miners that work for such mines. The basic principles of
ethical mining involve dictating worker safety, and providing them appropriate
compensations based on situations arising due to working in mines. Not only
this, but mining firms also have to take care of the environment surrounding
the mines, which forms an important part of ethical mining. In short, any
decision that is taken not from a business point of view but from a moral point
of view is considered inclusive undermining ethics.
Miners are the main lifeline of mining companies; without
them, there would simply be no market for those mining firms. Many mines
understand this perfectly well and take steps to ensure that their workers are
well-trained and well-educated on basic mining safety. They are provided
appropriate safety clothing and equipment, trained in evacuations in case of
emergency, and taught emergency paths and walkways to escape from in case of
accidents. This does not stop there; many mining companies also provide medical
insurance to miners, along with accident compensations and other miner benefits
that make working in mines worth it for those miners.
A big hurdle in its implementation is that there are many
mines that put profits above their workers’ safety. In their terms, ‘workers
can be replaced but money lost is lost’. Such mines rarely implement ethical
practices to ensure the safety of their workers. Many local governing bodies have
stepped in to ensure that ethical practices for worker safety are followed in as
many mines as possible.
Ethical practices don’t stop at just worker safety; it also
pertains to the quality of produce and waste disposal practices. Many mines often
mix impurities with mined minerals to make them heavy, as mined minerals are
usually sold on their weight basis. A mine with proper ethics in place will
always be honest with their sales and to their clients. Monitoring this outside
the mine is difficult, so it is up to the mining firm to decide whether they
want to be honest with their products or throw away all ethical thinking.
Finally, mining firms have to look after the surrounding
environment, especially if there is a city, town or a village in close vicinity
of the mine. They have to ensure that proper waste disposal practices are
followed and land dug responsibly so that it does not affect their surroundings
much, for it shall put them at risk if not followed properly.