Safety is the number one concern for any mining operation. If your company has operations in several locations around the globe, your safety concerns are even more complex. It’s crucial that you choose a safety partner with the experience and resources to support all your locations.
Choosing a company that has worked on several continents and within many countries can save you enormous amounts of time and energy managing the complex regulations, governmental agencies, and developing reliable supply chains. You won’t waste time on equipment that works for one operation but won’t function in a different climate or for a different product. “Our experience is your advantage,” says Mike Berube, CEO of Strata Worldwide. “We design our products and systems strategically so they can be adapted to uses and operations in multiple locations. Our goal is to become a true partner to our mining operators, providing insight and advice we’ve gained in other parts of the world.”
Even with global experience, not every safety equipment company has the resources to set up offices in multiple locations within a country. “We firmly believe that parachuting people into a country only to have them leave when the immediate issue is resolved is not giving our customers what they need,” says Berube. “We’re willing to make the investment of setting up local offices and staff to support an operation.”
Having local offices means shorter response times when a system or piece of equipment needs attention. “Most companies will pick up the phone at 3:00 AM when there’s a problem,” Berube says, “But not very many of them have someone on hand to go underground at 3:00 in the morning.” In fact, many companies may require hours, even days, before they can fly in the needed expertise.
And that’s during a normal year. The global pandemic of 2020 disrupted manufacturing, supply chains, and made international business travel prohibitive for many safety companies. Flying in a technician and having to quarantine him in a hotel for two weeks was an enormous expense and waste of valuable resources and time. Strata’s policy of having service and technical staff in-country made supporting partners much easier during an unforeseen and worldwide crisis.
“Consistent procedures and training are always a concern,” says Berube. “Strata’s global experience allows us to take best practices from one operation and country to the next.” Berube knows that using the same safety equipment and systems at every site makes training easier and allows employees who transfer from one site to another to get up to speed quickly. “The faster you can get a new worker onboarded, the more quickly he’ll be productive.”
Strata Worldwide understands how challenging training can be for a company with several international operations. Time zone differences, cultural and language differences, and diverse regulatory environments all must be accounted for. That’s why the company is launching a universal online training platform in the second half of 2021. Employees in every location will be able to access high-quality, consistent training where and when they need it.
“In the end, we know that an operation needs to know who to call when they have an issue,” says Mike Berube. “They need a quick response from someone who cares as much about potential downtime as they do. That’s why we invest in having a local presence; you get tiered troubleshooting with a single point of contact. We make sure we have the right people in the right place at the right time – no matter where you are in the world.”
