How Safety Culture can improve the Management of Tailings Storage Facilities
Tailings are a by product of mining, finely ground waste materials left over after minerals and metals have been extracted from ore. They typically consist of crushed rock, process water, and residual chemicals, forming a slurry that must be stored safely. Because most operations produce tailings continuously and in vast quantities, companies construct Tailings Storage Facilities (TSFs) to contain them. These structures are complex and dynamic engineered systems , and when they fail, the consequences can be catastrophic for people, the environment and the company’s social license to operate. They have cost the mining industry billions of dollars.
From FidesOak®’s experience across the mining, oil & gas and other high hazard sectors, one truth stands out: technical systems alone do not keep people safe, culture does. Even the most sophisticated monitoring or engineering design cannot outperform the behaviours, leadership decisions and organisational norms that shape day-to-day practice.
This view is strongly supported by the ICMM Tailings Management: Good Practice Guide (2nd edition, February 2025), which states in Section 1.1.1:
“The guidance is ultimately aimed at mitigating what can perhaps be the greatest risk factor, the human element.”
This is a critical point. Tailings management is not simply a technical discipline, it is a human and organisational one.
The past decade has delivered painful reminders of what is at stake. In 2014, the Mount Polley breach in Canada released 24 million cubic metres of tailings and water into the environment, driven by an under-appreciated foundation failure. In 2015, the Fundão dam collapse in Brazil devastated communities along the Rio Doce, exposing fundamental weaknesses in governance, communication and risk escalation. In 2019, the Brumadinho disaster, also in Brazil, resulted in 270 deaths when a dam failed catastrophically due to sudden liquefaction, amplified by organisational blind spots and concerns around psychological safety.
Section 1.1.2 of the ICMM Guide reflects this reality:
“However, the failures of tailings facilities around the world resulting in hundreds of fatalities over the last three decades point to the imperative that the mining industry safety culture be applied to tailings management.”
From a FidesOak® standpoint, this means recognising that TSFs require the same level of cultural maturity, operational discipline and leadership attention as any other high-hazard industry, oil & gas, nuclear, chemical processing.
Safety Culture: the foundation for high-reliability Tailings Management
A strong safety culture is the foundation of every resilient operation. It is expressed through consistent behaviours, role clarity, leadership integrity and the willingness to challenge assumptions, even when doing so is uncomfortable.
It defines “how we do things around here” in relation to protecting employees, contractors, and communities.
Section 1.1.2 of the ICMM Guide puts this plainly:
“The guidance is aimed at fostering and strengthening the safety culture associated with tailings management with the goal of eliminating fatalities and catastrophic events.”
This is not aspirational; it is essential.
Professor (Emeritus) Norbert R. Morgenstern reinforces this in the ICMM Guide’s Foreword:
“Of overarching significance is the safety culture expressed by the Operator… A common denominator for all Operators that share this goal is that tailings facilities should be designed, constructed, operated and closed to such high standards that ‘failure is not an option’.”
At FidesOak®, we see this mindset as the difference between organisations that manage complexity well and those that are continually surprised by it.
A strong TSF safety culture brings:
- Transparency when data changes or conditions shift, even slightly.
- Empowerment for personnel to stop, delay or escalate without fear.
- Challenge and curiosity, especially in design assumptions and risk models.
- Investment in long-term risk reduction, not compromise for short-term targets.
These are not soft concepts; they are operational capabilities.
Breaking the chain: strengthening weak signals and learning loops
Tailings failures can be preceded by a sequence of missed opportunities, signals that were seen, but not acted on; concerns raised, but not escalated; or assumptions accepted without adequate scrutiny.
A FidesOak®-aligned safety culture strengthens these critical pathways.
Encouraging early escalation: Individuals must feel safe to speak up- strong levels of psychological safety. In TSF operations, hesitation is a risk factor in itself.
Viewing near misses as learning capital: Near misses are not evidence that systems work, they are evidence that vulnerabilities exist. High-performing organisations capture and act on these insights.
Resisting the normalisation of deviance: Incremental changes in pore pressure trends, seepage rates, beach widths or instrument reliability must not become “business as usual.” Vigilance is non-negotiable.
Human Factors: capability, accountability and collaboration
TSF performance is shaped by the interplay of roles, responsibilities and competencies.
Competence development: Building geotechnical and engineering capability is a long-term investment, not a training event.
Clear and aligned accountabilities: TSFs perform best when governance is unambiguous, from the Board to the Engineer of Record to frontline operators.
Interdisciplinary communication: Water management, pit operations, geology, hydrology and corporate planning must all align. Silos are a risk multiplier.
Decision-Making under pressure: making Safety the non-negotiable
In high-hazard environments, leadership decisions carry structural consequences.
A FidesOak® leadership mindset for TSFs includes:
- Prioritising safety over production when conflicts arise.
- Ensuring technical concerns are not overridden by schedule pressure.
- Demonstrating presence during high-risk operational periods.
- Maintaining “chronic unease”, always questioning what may be changing or emerging.
Data, technology and independent oversight: tools amplified by Culture
Technology enhances TSF safety, but only when human behaviours support its use.
Technology is never a substitute for judgement: Instruments detect; people interpret and act.
Independent reviews strengthen discipline: Organisations with a mature safety culture invite scrutiny. They view independent review as a safeguard, not a burden.
Building trust beyond the facility
A credible safety culture extends to communities, regulators and stakeholders. Trust is built through openness, responsiveness and preparedness.
Communities respond positively to operators who:
- Share monitoring information transparently.
- Explain risks in clear, accessible language.
- Engage meaningfully in emergency planning.
This is not only good practice, it is good governance.
Culture as a strategic Risk Control
Technical excellence is essential, but culture determines how consistently that excellence is applied. TSF safety is built through behaviours, decisions, competence and leadership.
As the ICMM’s 2025 guidance emphasise, the human element is the greatest risk factor, but also the greatest opportunity for improvement.
At FidesOak®, our perspective is simple: A strong safety culture is the most effective, scalable and sustainable safeguard against TSF failure.
Organisations that invest in it will not only meet global expectations, they will set the standard for responsible mining in the decades ahead.
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