Mine manager to mine health and safety engineer
A mine manager already meets 72% of what the mine health and safety engineer role asks for. The move turns on 4 required skills not yet in the profile.
30/ 100
1 How much of what a mine health and safety engineer is expected to do is already part of a mine manager’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the mine health and safety engineer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A mine health and safety engineer role treats 10 of its required skills as things a mine manager already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- address problems critically
- develop health and safety strategies in mining
- electricity
- ensure compliance with safety legislation
- geology
- investigate mine accidents
What stands in the way is 4 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 16 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A mine health and safety engineer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a mine manager background worth leading with.
- already held develop health and safety strategies in mining management skills
- already held investigate mine accidents information skills
- already held mining engineering engineering, manufacturing and construction
- already held mine safety legislation engineering, manufacturing and construction
- already held health and safety hazards underground services
- already held impact of geological factors on mining operations engineering, manufacturing and construction
All 16 carried skills, including the 10 the mine health and safety engineer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 6 missing skills fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn maintain records of mining operations required
- optional, not held inspect mine safety conditions optional
- optional, not held monitor employee's health optional
- still to learn prevent health and safety problems required
- still to learn train employees in mine safety required
- still to learn safety engineering required
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a mine health and safety engineer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 prevent health and safety problems practise this
- 02 maintain records of mining operations practise this
- 03 train employees in mine safety practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 16 skills that carry over
- already held address problems critically skill
- already held develop health and safety strategies in mining skill
- already held electricity knowledge
- already held ensure compliance with safety legislation skill
- already held geology knowledge
- already held investigate mine accidents skill
- already held manage emergency procedures skill
- already held mine safety legislation knowledge
- already held prepare scientific reports skill
- already held supervise staff skill
- already held electrical engineering knowledge
- already held health and safety hazards underground knowledge
- already held impact of geological factors on mining operations knowledge
- already held mining engineering knowledge
- already held present reports skill
- already held troubleshoot skill
2 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held inspect mine safety conditions optional
- optional, not held monitor employee's health optional
22 held skills the mine health and safety engineer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role apply transportation management concepts skill
- not needed by the target role assess operating cost skill
- not needed by the target role chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role communicate on minerals issues skill
- not needed by the target role communicate on the environmental impact of mining skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with customers skill
- not needed by the target role deal with pressure from unexpected circumstances skill
- not needed by the target role economics knowledge
- not needed by the target role ensure mining records are maintained skill
- not needed by the target role evaluate mine development projects skill
- not needed by the target role forecast organisational risks skill
- not needed by the target role identify process improvements skill
- not needed by the target role interface with anti-mining lobbyists skill
- not needed by the target role manage commercial risks skill
- not needed by the target role manage mining plant equipment skill
- not needed by the target role manage staff skill
- not needed by the target role mechanical engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor mine production skill
- not needed by the target role optimise financial performance skill
- not needed by the target role oversee mine planning activities skill
- not needed by the target role think proactively skill
- not needed by the target role train mine engineers skill
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn safety engineering required
Common questions about this move
Can a mine manager become a mine health and safety engineer?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A mine manager already covers 72% of what a mine health and safety engineer is expected to do: 16 skills carry over, 10 of which the mine health and safety engineer role treats as required.
What skills does a mine manager need to become a mine health and safety engineer?
4 required skills are missing, plus 2 optional ones. They fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is prevent health and safety problems.
How hard is the move from mine manager to mine health and safety engineer?
Its learning distance is 30 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.