Assessment of employees' perceptions of approaches to sustainable water management by coal and iron ore mining companies

A study was conducted to investigate the use of sustainable or green water management approaches by the coal and iron ore mining companies in South Africa. The specific aims of this study were to assess South African mining employees' perceptions about: their companies' use of sustainable water management approaches in mining operations, their perception about the sustainability of the water management approaches or practices used by their mining companies, and to investigate employees' perception about what they viewed as gaps or areas requiring improvement for the mining companies to improve their water (or environmental) sustainability. A survey was conducted using a questionnaire that was structured in three (3) sections, and comprised both closed-ended and open-ended questions. The data were coded by assigning a number to each response choice and analysed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software programme. Themes based on the responses to the open-ended questions were developed and also coded for analysis by SPSS. Frequencies for each question were generated, while associations between some variables were tested at the p ≤ 0.05 level of statistical significance. The survey results indicated that the sustainability approaches of the coal and iron ore mining companies to improve water management included the development of strategies and plans for water conservation, reduction of water withdrawal to curtail water use or consumption, prevention of water pollution by mine wastewater and effluent, and ethical and honest disclosure of water issues. The study also identified areas that, according to the respondents' perceptions, required improvement to enhance water sustainability in the South African mining industry. According the employees' perceptions the development and implementation of corporate water strategies or plans, employment of skilled people to work on mine-water issues, and the improvement of green infrastructure were critical areas requiring improvement. However, several biographical factors (e.g., age, education, job position, main role of the job, and experiences) had significant associations with employees' responses. Each survey question about the main sustainable water management focus area generated a high no opinion response.