As it grows internationally, The Redpath Group works to maintain quality in its operations, as well as with customers and employees.

Challenge is an important part of life,” says The Redpath Group in its corporate motto. This is just part of the beliefs that have guided the company's operations, but it is an important part, explains Dave Hansman, vice president of engineering and business development.

“Here at Redpath, we tell ourselves - and everyone who will listen - that we like a challenge,” he says. “It really goes beyond that. We like challenges most certainly, but the satisfaction from what we do, and the reputation we earn while doing it, comes from creating, developing or putting forward solutions that meet the challenges presented to us by our clients.”

Fully owned by Deilmann-Haniel GmbH, a leading mining contractor in Europe, The Redpath Group provides comprehensive, single-source construction services to the mining industry.

The company best serves its clients, it says, by offering a combination of technical and operational expertise and providing “practical and innovative” performance and successful completion of “sophisticated or technically complex” mine development and construction programs.

Hansman explains the company can face many challenges in its work, but it always tries to solve them in a quality manner.

“Meeting the challenges we are presented - finding the right solution for the situation - is without question the reason why so many of us find this industry, and life in business at Redpath, so rewarding and meaningful,” he says. “It is also these solutions that keep our customers coming back to Redpath and keeps our business so dynamic.

“When we encounter a challenge in our work, whether that involves a complex mining construction application or an improvement in the processes that we are involved with on a day-to-day basis, we try to think about this: Is it the challenge we like, or is it the chance that we are being given to overcome or provide a solution to the challenge? In the end, it is the satisfaction of finding the right solution and accomplishing the task is what really matters to us all.”

Working in the mining industry, Hansman explains, The Redpath Group's challenges involve issues with safety, environmental protection and working in a number of international markets.

At the same time, he says, the company works to maintain strong client relationships, a quality focus throughout its operations and a positive atmosphere for its employees. Recently, Hansman spoke with Exploration + Processing about how The Redpath Group works to balance all of this.

Exploration + Processing: How did The Redpath Group get started?
Dave Hansman: Jim Redpath is our founder - his father worked for a mining company, so he grew up in the mining industry. During university he spent his summers working with a mining contractor and continued working with them after he graduated from McGill University.

Jim developed a good relationship with the owner of the contracting firm and used him as a consultant when he went to start his own company in 1962. Jim put together a small team of people to start The Redpath Group. It was humble beginnings but it led to bigger things.

The company's first major project was on the Creighton No. 9 shaft at Inco, which is one of North America's largest shaft excavations and remains one of the deepest circular concrete shafts in North America.

E+P: The Redpath Group seems to be focused on maintaining a positive atmosphere for its employees. How does the company work to keep turnover at a minimum?
DH: Money is one aspect, but it's not everything. We have found that if our people enjoy their work, the working environment and the people they are working with, they will stay on.

We want them to be proud of their work. When they enjoy what they do, money is almost secondary to them. We want to provide the full package to our people.

As a result, we have many long-term people on our team. I have been here since 1976 and hope my feelings are the same as a lot of our people - we get a great experience here.

E+P: The company has stated that Jim Redpath set in place the firm's quality standards. How does The Redpath Group work to maintain its quality?
DH: Our company has a commitment to quality. Our philosophy is to provide a level of service that exceeds industry standards and quality is part of that. But quality isn't only in the work that we do.

We have to maintain quality in our relationships - how we deal with our clients and employees. We want to provide a safe and fun environment to do work in. But overall, we all try hard to get and give quality experiences everyday.

E+P: What does The Redpath Group provide to its customers that makes it a good partner on its projects?
DH: Our strengths are being demonstrated in many markets right now, especially in our international work, like in Mongolia and Indonesia, as well as the United States.

Customers come to us because of the quality of service we provide and the depth of engineering and technical support we give them. We have the resources that are needed to meet the demands of this industry. People come to us because they know what they are going to get. The name Redpath means something to a lot of people - there are many good opinions associated with our name. As a result, we don't have to go out searching for work opportunities - the opportunities often find us.

E+P: How does The Redpath Group work with its customers to ensure it is delivering the best service?
DH: We try to get involved on a project as early as possible - during the concept stage if we can. This has an affect on the final outcome in terms of the design of the project and its constructability.

This also allows us to establish relationships early and it builds on the trust and respect we have for everyone we are working with and, hopefully, them for us. Then we follow through on these relationships and goals we established at the start until the actual construction is completed.

At our core we are constructors. Part of that is our engineering and technical services group - they support our customers and help us look at the project from a construction point of view. We are constructors with extensive engineering capabilities. Overall, we do all we can to ensure each decision we make is in the best interest of the project; that helps us maintain our strong relationships.

E+P: How has The Redpath Group recently enhanced its services to improve what it offers to clients?
DH: We are always looking to use the newest techniques and latest equipment available. This is not new for us - this practice has been ongoing in the company's culture for decades and it leads to our quality. Changes are more of an evolution for us. They come through increased training, new programs, improved methods of performance and the type of contracts we are working on. Regardless of what it is, however, we are always willing to change if it will help us improve.

We seek to avoid the type of contracts that have built-in conflict, because that does not necessarily result in quality. Our goal is to resolve any conflicts before we even start our work on a project. Once we are on the site, we try to have a seamless team that will move the project along in a smooth manner. That is nothing new for us, but we are always trying to improve so our performance on- and off-site can be better. It is all in the best interest of the project and our relationships with customers.

E+P: Have you noticed any recent trends among your customers or throughout the industry to which The Redpath Group is responding or working on improving?
DH: There is definitely a trend to do more work offshore. We have participated in offshore work for more than 30 years, but recently there is a lot more to do internationally.

We are adapting to that work well, though. We bring all of our environmental, safety and health programs with us, wherever we work. We have also learned how to overcome the language and cultural barriers in offshore markets. We adapt our aims and goals so we can improve in each market we are in.

This is the single-biggest change we have seen in the last few years. Right now, it is all about adapting to the international face of business and everything that comes along with it. We are handling it well, but there is still much to learn.

‘Excellent Results'
In terms of health, safety and environmental standards, The Redpath group says it is “committed to the protection of the environment and personal safety while ensuring quality service.” To achieve this goal, the company says, it endorses and adheres to the environmental policy of the Mining Association of Canada and pledges its companies to the protection of the environment during assignments in the mining and civil sectors.

“A respect for our natural environment is paramount to the success of our group and our industry,” the company says.

The Redpath Group also recognizes the importance of safety and is committed to having its own safety program commence at the outset of each project. In 2004, the company's efforts were recognized by the Mines and Aggregates Safety and Health Association when it was given the Award of Excellence in Safety among mining contractors. Hansman continued his conversation with Exploration + Processing by discussing The Redpath Group's safety focus.

E+P: How does The Redpath Group uphold its safety standards?
DH: We have a comprehensive safety program that works very well - we have excellent results to show for it. Safety is not something you are ever done working on and we try to stress that safety is the responsibility of everybody in the organization.

We know that we must keep moving toward zero/zero/zero - no injuries of any kind, including lost-time accidents, medical aids or other loss incidents. We are constantly moving in that direction because we demand it and it is demanded of us by our clients.

Any provider of professional mining services needs to eliminate accidents and injuries from their work sites. We want our people to go home at night to their families having had a good experience at work. We want them to enjoy their time off - not be off because they were hurt.

E+P: How does The Redpath Group remain committed to the protection of the environment?
DH: Because of the fact that we work in the international arena for a number of projects, we understand that it might be hard for some firms to have a set environmental policy - not every country or area has the same health, safety and environmental requirements. Our company, however, has a set policy, so we work hard to ensure our employees use the same high standards everywhere they work.

We also work with local governments and regulatory agencies to help further develop the area's requirements in these manners. However, if they are more stringent in their standards, we will adopt that.

This is just part of how we do all we can to keep moving forward to improve. We want to have one standard everywhere we go.

E+P: How does The Redpath Group work to distinguish itself in the industry?
DH: We have experience on a wide variety of mining projects and locations, which many firms don't have. We also have a good number of people on our staff who have been with us for the long-term.
All of this is supported by our engineering, technical and financial depth, which is necessary to carry out our projects.

In our business, there are a lot of competitors of many sizes depending on the type of job we are working on. The Redpath Group has used quality throughout its history to be in a position that will allow us to take on a variety of projects of all types and sizes.

E+P: What are the company's plans for growth?
DH: We are in the middle of our five-year strategic plan. This has given us many growth objectives and we are well on our way to achieving these goals.

Our plan is to continue to grow as the situation dictates. We will take the right opportunities where we feel we can do a quality job and the client will be a winner, as well.

E+P: What is The Redpath Group's vision for its future?
DH: We want to be the go-to international underground mine constructor. We are doing all we can through improvements in safety, quality and service to ensure we achieve that goal.  E+P