Given the high risk of the mining environment, companies should ensure that their employees are correctly qualified to meet their job requirements, says background screening and vetting specialists Managed Integrity Evaluation (MIE).

Mines should undertake the necessary processes to verify and check qualifications of existing and prospective candidates to curb the risk of having candidates without the know-how to manage risk situations.

MIE CEO Michelle Baron-Williamson says the company’s research and market experience has shown that misrepresentation and fraudulent qualifications remain high when compared with other background screening checks, such as criminal record checks, for example.

“One can only imagine what it could mean if safety officers, or high-risk underground teams, for example, were found to be underqualified. Besides the potential risk to the business delivery, it could have harsh implications on the lives of others.”

MIE communications head Jennifer Barkhuizen tells Mining Weekly that the background checks the company mostly does for the mining industry includes criminal record checks and qualification verifications.

“We have observed an uptake from companies in the mining industry to screen their employees during employment to ensure that nothing has changed on an individual’s profile.”

She adds that these companies are increasingly becoming aware of how important it is to ensure that employees are qualified to do their jobs.

Further, Barkhuizen mentions that it is important for MIE to understand its clients’ requirements and specifications to put together a complete solution for them.

The company offers background screening services in about 30 African countries and has in-country partnerships with suppliers in these countries. MIE does about six projects a month for clients from various industries. The largest projects it has undertaken were in the government and financial sectors.

In the local mining industry, MIE has done several projects with a multinational mining company, and a platinum group metals producer.

Meanwhile, MIE is finalising a project for a global beverage company that requested background screening on more than 1 700 candidates. MIE is doing criminal record, citizenship and drivers licence checks, as well as qualification verifications, for the company.

MIE is continuously working to grow its footprint in South Africa and also aims to expand its footprint into the rest of Africa over the next five years, Barkhuizen concludes.