Dear Colleagues
Happy World Miners' Day (December 4) to all the miners who have contributed to our lives with their efforts for thousands of years. Just as the ancient city of Ephesus reached the present day, we also aim to reach future generations thanks to our mines and with the technology provided by our mines. Our sector, which has been having a hard time since 2020 due to the epidemic, finally healed its wounds and caught its previous figures. By October 2021, we exported 6.5 million tons of natural stone, consisting of 2.8 million tons of processed marble and 3.7 million tons of blocks, and reached an export figure of $ 1.7 billion. It is an award for all of us on this important day that our country's sector, which is in the top three in the world in marble and natural stone exports, regains its previous power.
As our need for mines have been increasing every other day, we are taking significant steps to ensure the sustainability of our sector. It is important to have access to the precious metals that nature presents us. However, it is more important and humanly to reveal these mines with the help of today's technology, in the most innovative and efficient way and with environmentally friendly methods, by taking into account the humanistic factors and the carbon emission that has increased since the industrial revolution, In these days when the climate crisis and the 2050 zero emission target are on the agenda, we are ready to do whatever expected from us for our common future. The marble and natural stone sector is a a low carbon footprint sector that is ready to take an active role in the construction of a future with zero emissions.
One of the most important factors in mining is surely occupational health and safety. In February 2021, we implemented the Safe Marble Quarry Management Project through Awareness Raising and Experience Sharing Project with the Department of European Union and Financial Assistance of Turkish Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services.
The target groups of our project are the employees, employers and their families working in marble quarries in Sivas and Muğla. The project aims to increase OHS awareness and inform employers through seminars in 50 marble production enterprises operating in Muğla and Sivas, to raise awareness of 360 employees working in marble production enterprises operating in these cities along with their families.
The final beneficiaries of our project; TÜMMER member employers, employees of TUMMER member companies, more than 6,000 mining companies and more than 130,000 mine workers. When the project is completed, an OHS center will be established within TÜMMER. In our project, we aim to simulate 7 occupational accident scenarios in marble quarries using virtual reality software and to train our workers through these simulations. Furthermore, we intend to raise awareness both in our sector and the public via the public service announcement and educational film that we have produced.
The mining sector maintains its existence in a great cooperation from employers to workers, public institutions to non-governmental organizations, quarries to factories, vendors to customers, and mechanics to transporters. As long as we act in unity, the future of our sector and therefore the future of humanity is safe.
I would like to take this opportunity to celebrate the World Miners' Day of all our colleagues and all our colleagues who contributed to the sector, and wish you healthy days
