Michaelwegleitner director of health and safety SaFety anD health “Just by talking with employees and people within the  community, you can easily see that there’s a heightened  awareness of both safety and health…. hecla believes in  it. and everyone practices it.” What does Hecla value the most? Our people. Which makes their safety and health our number-one  priority.  Each property and project has its own challenges and methods, but all have the same goal: to send  employees and contractors home to their families safe and sound — every day. The choice for all employees is  clear: when a conflict arises between production and safety, safety should always come first. Hecla has some of the most experienced underground miners in the United States. Even so, our goal is to  reduce safety incidents and improve upon the previous year’s performance. It’s why we continually look for  ways to improve safety and health in the workplace. And it’s how 2012 came to mark a change in the way  Hecla ensures an even safer workplace. Michael Wegleitner, Hecla’s new director of health and safety, is leading the implementation of the  company’s new safety and health management system. Based on the National Mining Association’s  CORESafety program, Hecla’s system, which incorporates the best practices in the mining industry, focuses on  three main areas: leadership — Clear communications, accountability, personnel development, and culture  enhancement are all embodied in leadership. Management is ultimately responsible for the safety  system. management — Risk identification, change management, incident reporting and investigation,  training, and emergency management ensure that hazards and risks are minimized to the greatest  extent possible. assurance — Assessments, whether internal or provided by third-party verification, indicate whether  the system is working and point to any improvements that can be made. “I believe that every incident is preventable,” says Wegleitner. “My job is to work to that goal on an  hour-to-hour, day-to-day basis.” It’s a systematic approach, he adds, that has already proven beneficial. “We’re  already at half the incident rate we had last year,” he says.  At the Lucky Friday, the development plans for the #4 Shaft — which, when completed, will transport  miners more than 8,000 feet underground where wall rock temperatures can exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit —  incorporate a centralized water-chiller facility so the Lucky Friday can continue to be a cool, healthy  workplace. At Greens Creek, maintenance employees recently designed and constructed an enclosed cab for an  underground jumbo drill. The construction of the cab, the first of three, reduced operator noise exposures by  about 9 percent, a significant reduction that brings the noise level well below MSHA-allowable exposure levels. “Just by talking with employees and people within the community,” says Wegleitner, “you can easily see  that there’s a heightened awareness of both safety and health throughout the company. Hecla believes in it.  And everyone practices it.” 12 [HL]