As Orla continues to grow, we are seeking a Mine Rescue Chief to join our team and play a key role in the health and safety of our employees. In this role, you will develop, implement, and maintain emergency response plans, firefighting procedures, evacuation and rescue protocols, emergency medical response arrangements, and responder readiness in alignment with regulatory requirements and recognized industry best practices.
This position also supports compliance with the International Cyanide Management Code by developing cyanide emergency response procedures, coordinating medical response arrangements, training responders, and conducting drills, tabletop exercises, and scenario-based simulations.
Responsibilities
- Develop, maintain and implement site emergency response plans, procedures and response standards for surface gold operation, including fire, medical, rescue, hazardous materials, severe weather, wildland fire, spill, cyanide and security-related emergencies.
- Establish emergency medical assistance, patient stabilization, transport arrangements and response protocols for injured or ill persons, including remote-area response considerations.
- Build, lead and maintain the site Mine Rescue/Emergency Response Team capability appropriate for a surface mine, heap leach, ADR and processing operation.
- Develop and deliver competency-based training for responders, including incident command, scene size-up, rescue techniques, medical response, firefighting, hazardous materials, cyanide response, confined space support, traffic control and communications.
- Administer and support crisis management system training for site leadership, emergency management team members and functional responders.
- Develop realistic tabletop, functional and field-based scenarios for mine emergencies, including wildland fire, cyanide exposure/release, vehicle incidents, severe weather, missing person, security threats, process incidents and mass casualty events.
- Coordinate cyanide response training for emergency responders, process personnel, security, environmental, medical providers and contractors with roles in cyanide-related emergencies.
- Ensure cyanide response equipment, PPE, decontamination resources, monitoring equipment, antidote/medical protocols, communications and transport arrangements are identified, available and maintained as applicable.
- Provide leadership or technical support during emergency incidents using an incident command approach appropriate to the scale and complexity of the event.
- Support investigations and reviews of emergency events, near misses, drills and unplanned activations; identify root causes, response gaps and corrective actions.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Occupational Health and Safety or a related field preferred.
- Minimum 7 years of emergency response and/or mine rescue experience, preferably in a mining environment.
- Minimum 5 years of leadership experience as a Chief, Emergency Response Leader, or in a comparable emergency response leadership role.
- Minimum 5 years of experience in mining, mineral processing, heavy industrial operations, or emergency services.
- Minimum 5 years of experience in emergency response, incident command, firefighting, technical rescue, and medical response.
- Minimum 3 years of experience with MSHA regulations, the International Cyanide Management Code, hazardous materials response, and crisis management systems.
- Demonstrated ability to lead emergency response activities with confidence, sound judgment, and composure in high-pressure situations.
- Strong knowledge of the Incident Command System (ICS), emergency preparedness, emergency planning, drills, and after-action review processes.
- Proven ability to build emergency response capability through training, coaching, mentoring, and team development.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to effectively interact with employees, contractors, regulatory agencies, and emergency responders.
- Excellent organizational, documentation, and recordkeeping skills with experience supporting audits, inspections, and regulatory compliance.
- Demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement, emergency preparedness, and operational excellence.
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office and emergency notification or crisis management systems.
- Intermediate to advanced proficiency with training, records management, and inspection management software.
