CIM MES DG Seminar: The Hidden Costs of Major Operational Failures

"The Hidden Costs of Major Operational Failures: A Mining C-Suite Issue"

Mining is entering a new phase of accountability.

Newly strengthened industry guidance and emerging regulatory expectations are driving a step change in how high-consequence operational risk is identified, tracked and governed. Process-safety failures, once largely invisible at the enterprise level, are moving into clearer view, where they will increasingly be measured, scrutinized, benchmarked and linked directly to capital allocation, insurance availability, regulatory scrutiny and social license to operate.

Drawing on lessons from oil & gas, chemicals and other high-hazard sectors, this session connects the mining sector’s growing focus on critical controls and material unwanted events with the economic reality leaders manage every day: asset availability, unplanned downtime, regulatory intervention, insurability and enterprise value. Drawing on cross-sector experience and case studies, including Brumadinho and Texas City, the discussion shows that the most damaging events are rarely technology failures alone but reflect breakdowns in safety intelligence and leadership decision-making, where warning signs were present in routine operational and HSE reporting but remained fragmented, hard to interpret, or easy to dismiss.

The presentation will also outline how many organizations already possess years of data that can provide early indications of deteriorating controls 12–24 months in advance, and how modern analytics can convert unstructured reporting into leadership-ready insights and practical, prioritized actions for senior decision-makers.

About the Speaker

Gus Carroll is an internationally recognized authority in process safety and major accident risk management across high-hazard industries, including oil & gas, chemicals, refining and nuclear. He has over 30 years of experience working with senior leaders and boards to manage high-consequence operational risk and its implications for asset performance, governance and enterprise value and was the 2024 recipient of the prestigious IChemE Franklin Medal for outstanding contributions to process safety.

Gus has held senior leadership roles at various energy companies, including Centrica, where he served as Chief Engineer across its oil & gas, power, nuclear and industrial operations. Following the Grenfell Tower fire, a national tragedy that exposed profound failures in safety governance, Gus was invited by Dame Judith Hackitt, former Chair of the UK Health and Safety Executive, to lead the development of a safety culture and leadership framework for the UK construction sector.

He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Empirisys, a specialist firm that applies advanced analytics and safety intelligence to help organizations convert operational and HSE data into leadership-ready insight and prioritized action. He also chairs the UK Strategic Major Accident Forum, a joint government-industry body involving industry leaders, regulators and government departments. He is a Chartered Chemical Engineer with an MSc and an MBA.

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MES of CIM (Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum) (CIM MES: https://www.cimmes.org/) serves members involved in the economics and management of mining and all aspects of the management of companies active in the mining and petroleum sectors. MES has an educational mission, and to achieve this, MES hosts events that provide a forum for industry professionals to share experiences, insights, and ideas on topics relating to the economic, management, and financial aspects of the mining and energy business.