15 February 2010
Diversified miner, Anglo American underlined its commitment to zero harm and its status as the employer of choice in the mining industry by achieving an outstanding safety milestone in 2009, with the number of fatalities down nearly 60% over the last three years, from 44 in 2006 to 19 in 2009.
In a speech delivered by Anglo American CEO, Cynthia Carroll at the Mining Indaba, she stated that over 91% of the company’s sites around the globe operated without a major safety incident in 2009, and it has achieved an equally impressive reduction in lost-time due to injuries (LTI).
"These impressive figures demonstrate what can be achieved, and employees are now starting to believe that we can get fatalities down to zero, which is the only acceptable number. We will continue to aim for zero harm," she states.
Carroll says that upon becoming CEO of the company, her first priority was safety, as the company’s safety record up until that point had been "simply unacceptable". She therefore initiated a series of internal safety summits in 2007. She notes that while they started to make good progress, with fatalities reducing from 27 in the first half of 2007 to 13 in the second half, the company was still not satisfied, and felt that they were still not "breaking through" towards an acceptable safety standard.
Carroll determined that to improve Anglo American’s safety record, there needed to be collaboration with partners in the mining industry.
"It was clear to me that we were not going to be able to do this alone, to really change the culture and achieve substantially different results, until we collaborated with all of those who had a vested interest in protecting lives and could influence a change in behaviours," she says.
"In April 2008 we established the Tripartite safety initiative, in conjunction with the South African Government and local trade unions. With our common commitment, we could start to do things differently. This collaboration has focused initially on safety, but we are now looking at other areas in which we can work together to make a real difference, such as occupational health," she says.
She notes that the company’s safety record has improved considerably in partnership with the Department of Mineral Resources and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
Carroll says that there were many examples of exceptional safety performance on the company’s part in 2009.
"Last year, our Copper, Nickel, Metallurgical Coal and Exploration business units remained fatality-free. Further, Kumba Iron Ore, Thabazimbi mine, which employs close to 1,400 people, achieved two years LTI-free, and fatalities at Thermal Coal dropped by 50% year-on-year," she states.
Further, she says, Anglo Platinum recently announced its achievement of a four month fatality free period, a first for the company; and Iron ore Brazil has seen a 98% drop in LTI’s since acquisition.
However, Carroll acknowledges that while great strides have been made, 19 people still died at Anglo American operations in 2009. She asserts, therefore, that the company is concentrating its efforts in 2010 on the top five safety risks across the business. It will start with a transportation safety campaign, as, she notes, they are the ones that will really make a difference to the company’s people on the front line.
Despite there still being much work needed to improve safety, Carroll maintains that Anglo American has helped set a new safety standard for mining in South Africa.
"Fatalities over the past two years in the country’s mining industry have fallen sharply, with around a 25% improvement year on year," she says.
Anglo American executive director Godfrey Gomwe further notes that the company’s statistics for the year revealed a much improved safety performance. "Fatalities have halved since 2007, and Anglo Platinum achieved its first ever fatalityfree quarter during the fourth quarter of 2009, and has so far remained fatality-free for this year. Anglo American experienced a 54-day fatality-free period between mid-September to mid-November 2009, it’s longest since listing on the London Stock Exchange. There were a further five instances of fatality-free operation for 30 plus days or longer during 2009, and Copper, Met Coal, Nickel and Exploration were also fatality-free during 2009," he says.
"Last year, Anglo Platinum’s Amandelbult mining operation, which includes Tumela and Dishaba Mines, has in excess of 6 million fatality-free shifts and has, for the first time ever, managed to operate for a whole calendar year without a fatality. Overall, Fatalities in South Africa have dropped from 32 in 2007, to 17 this year, representing a 47% improvement," he concludes.
With such impressive safety statistics, it is little wonder that Anglo American continues to lead the way regarding safety measures in South Africa, and will continue to do so well into the future.
Anglo American is a leading global mining company, and the biggest mining company on the African continent. Its roots were planted in South Africa more than 90 years ago, and it has subsequently grown to a market capitalisation of around R 370 billion rand, or $50 billion.
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Pranill Ramchander, Media Relations
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Notes to Editors:
Anglo American plc is one of the world’s largest mining groups. With its subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates, it is a global leader in platinum group metals and diamonds, with significant interests in copper, iron ore, metallurgical coal, nickel and thermal coal, as well as a divestment portfolio of other mining and industrial businesses. The Group is geographically diverse, with operations in Africa, Europe, South and North America, Australia and Asia.