부산대학교 도서관

In the global economy, the mining sector plays a fundamental role as it provides vital raw materials and energy for a large number of industries. The adverse environmental and social impacts generated (severe land disturbance and health and safety problems) are the most negative side. Thus, mining activities have important economic, environmental, labour and social repercussions on local and global scales. Under this context, it is important to manage company’s activities considering the quality of products and processes, the impacts on the environment, the health and security of its workers and the interests and prospects of all types of stakeholders. Management systems help to fulfil this aim as they systematize process control and improvement. This Thesis analyses the diffusion of quality, environmental, occupational health and security, and corporate social responsibility systems among the aggregate and natural stone mining in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. It is organised in nine chapters plus an appendix that includes data from field work, the questionnaires conducted and the letters and e-mails sent. The first chapter describes the introduction of the Thesis and it establishes the goals and hypothesis of the investigation. The second chapter describes the reference frame and it introduces the concepts relating to quality, environment, occupational health and safety, corporate social responsibility and integration of management systems. The third chapter studies the state of the art of quality, environmental, occupational health and security and corporate social responsibility management systems and the integration of these systems. It also includes a literature review on studies analysing management systems in the mining industry. The fourth chapter describes the methodology of the investigation. The fifth chapter reports the main results obtained in the statistical analysis of the aggregate and natural stone mining companies in Catalonia. The sixth chapter analyses the opinion of professional associations in the mining sector and it reports the main results of the statistical study conducted. The seventh chapter contrasts the investigation hypothesis. The eighth chapter introduces a proposal of CSR chart for the mining sector. The last chapter describes the main conclusions of the investigation. It is also argues that the proposal of indicators could facilitate the enhancement of corporate social responsibility management in the firms. Finally, possible future lines of research are mentioned.