Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre

About the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre

The Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC) multidisciplinary team focuses on creating safer, healthier, and more rewarding workplaces for all.

MISHC works collaboratively with stakeholders to deliver:

Innovative, useful and impactful evidence-based research
Professional development programs grounded in the latest research and best practices
Specialised, high quality consulting services and advice by internationally renowned experts

We focus on:

Advancing operational risk and control management
Enhancing workplace safety and health
Progressing effective human factors approaches.
Leveraging advanced data analytics

Research themes and areas of expertise

See full list of MISHC research programs

Risk and Critical Control Management

For over 25 years MISHC has developed and disseminated leading-edge risk and risk control management research, consulting and professional development programs. MISHC was involved in the original ACARP and ICMM research that underpins the Critical Control approach. We also work on developing innovative, useful and usable frameworks for integrating and optimizing risks across financial, ESG and HSEC risks which includes enhancing high-quality bowtie-based control analyses and leveraging network analysis in innovative ways.

Health and Safety Management

MISHC is world renowned for research in workplace health and safety. Research, education and consulting work covers principal hazard management, dust and respiratory health, scientific construction of TARPs, fatigue, psychosocial risks, process safety, systems safety engineering, emergency response management and incident investigations.

Human Factors

MISHC researchers are international experts in the application of human factors to resource industry applications. Programs of work focus on human aspects of automation, human-systems integration, hazard awareness enhancement and assessment, designing for diversity and inclusion, worker-centred design of safer, healthier and more attractive work.

Artificial Intelligence for Health, Safety and Environmental Risk Management

The advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence focuses on cutting-edge approaches for collecting and transforming health, safety, environmental and risk data into insightful information, knowledge and wisdom. MISHC provides the industry with tailor-made analytical advice, software and hardware solutions to deliver transformational improvements in HSE, risk management and productivity optimization which new AI methods promise.

See more information on MISHC research themes and programs

Centre Director

Professor Maureen Hassall
View Maureen Hassall's profile

Researchers

Professor Robin Burgess-Limerick
Professor of Human Factors
View Robin Burgess-Limerick's research profile

Professor David Cliff
Professor of Occupational Health Safety in Mining
View David Cliff's research profile

Ms Nikky LaBranche
Research Fellow – OHS in Mining
View Nikky LaBranche's research profile

Dr Nikodem Rybak
Research Fellow – Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing
View Nikodem Ryback's research profile

See all MISHC staff and students

We offer high quality training for all levels of personnel in the resources sector to increase specialist knowledge and skills to better identify hazards and make effective decisions about risk. Our courses and masterclasses connect you with the latest research and best practices.

All health, safety and risk courses and masterclasses are facilitated by experienced practitioners within MISHC.

View our available health, safety and risk courses

Study a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Master of Philosophy (MPhil) with the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre. Propose your own research project with a supervisor or find an available research project with a scholarship.

For more information and enquiries about studying at SMI:

See more on SMI's Higher Degree by Research page

Providing information, resources and guidelines to the mineral industry:

RISKGate - has been designed to assist the coal mining industry to improve minimum standards for safety performance, efficiency, operating practice and training. It offers a continuum for knowledge transfer and redefining best practice in risk identification, assessment and management in the coal industry.

MIRMGate - best practice information about managing safety and health risks in the mineral industry. Information is presented and evaluated based on Risks, Hazards, Energies with comprehensive cross-referencing.