Mining and metals advocacy group ICMM has published its newly updated ‘Critical Control Management: Good Practice Guide’ to better support the mining industry’s implementation of controls that keep people safe at work.

The update brings together two of ICMM’s most widely used resources, namely the ‘Control Management Good Practice Guide’ and ‘Implementation Guidance’, which were both developed more than ten years ago.

The new 2026 edition integrates lessons from a decade of ICMM member implementation and real operations experience and provides stronger direction on planning, governance, accountability and leadership involvement, introducing new mechanisms such as maturity assessments and readiness checks.

“[The guide represents] renewed commitment to the people who work in our industry, their families and every community that depends on mining. We have the knowledge, tools, and above all, dedication to eliminate fatalities from our industry,” ICMM president and CEO Rohitesh Dhawan says.

The revised guidance draws on insights from member implementation and real-world operations, including the stronger direction on planning, governance and leadership, a stronger criteria for identifying, implementing and verifying critical controls and a stronger emphasis of organisational culture and frontline engagement to strengthen alignment across safety, health, operational and technical functions.

ICMM notes that critical controls are the specific measures that prevent high-consequence events or mitigate their impacts if they occur, adding that they require clear performance standards and defined ownership.

Moreover, regular verification is required to confirm that they remain effective in practice.

A strong focus on safety culture, driven by leadership is viewed by ICMM as key to preventing critical control failures that could lead to fatalities.

This guidance provides a practical foundation for strengthening critical control reliability and reducing the risk of high-consequence events in practice, ICMM asserts.