23 June 2011

Anglo American’s Tripartite Health and Safety Initiative (Tripartite) and the Group’s Safety and Sustainable Development unit will be advocating for health and safety in the mining industry at Anglo American’s Local Procurement and Enterprise Development Trade Fair taking place on 23 June at the Sandton Convention Centre.

“Sustainable development is core to our overall performance as a company and the values we hold; that is why it forms a key part of our strategy. As a Group, our position in this area is clear: mine safely, responsibly and sustainably, or risk losing our social and environmental licence to operate,” says Cynthia Carroll, Anglo American’s chief executive, who will be hosting the Minister in The Presidency, Collins Chabane, and Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources Godfrey Oliphant, at the event.

In 2008, in an effort to collaborate more widely on the issue of mine health and safety, Cynthia Carroll, NUM president Senzeni Zokwana and then Minister of Mineral Resources Buyelwa Sonjica hosted the inaugural Anglo American Tripartite Health and Safety Summit which led to the formation of a Tripartite steering group.

The Tripartite group, comprises representatives from Anglo American, its labour organisations – National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and UASA – The Union – and the Department of Mineral Resources, prides itself on mutual care and respect for members. Mziwakhe Nhlapo, convener for organised labour and the national unit head for the health and safety unit at NUM, notes, “Without deep and sustainable relationships, the health and safety challenges facing South Africa’s mining industry cannot be addressed.”

Carroll adds, “There is a tangible sense of camaraderie, trust and openness within the Tripartite team. This is inspiring and very much needed in an industry that has historically been plagued by the exact opposite.”

The Tripartite has declared a common vision for Zero Harm, underpinned by, among other things, visible felt leadership, care and respect for workers and communities and a united front on the part of Anglo American management, employees, unions and government.

This led to the foundation of four work stream areas namely, Stakeholder Engagement, Capacity Building, Aligned Approach to Standards and Extended Visible Felt Leadership (VFL). A fifth work stream, Health and Wellness, was founded in January 2010.

Much progress has been made by these work streams. The highlights include:

Understanding Zero Harm from the heart
The Capacity Building stream developed the Train-the-Trainer (TTT) Zero Harm orientation programme to complement the industry accredited safety representatives’ programme which focuses on the knowledge and skills required to be a safety representative.

The key difference with the TTT is that it addresses the ‘hearts and minds’ aspect of effective leadership resulting in a profound belief in and commitment to Zero Harm. To date, some 2,546 safety representatives (of a 4,076-strong target population) have been empowered through the programme. “This is undeniably something most mining industry stakeholders could learn from,” says Dorian Emmett, global head of safety and sustainable development at Anglo American.

Extending the reach of Visible Felt Leadership (VFL)
Studies have shown that VFL is a major contributor to positive safety performance. The Tripartite has been working to extend the concept beyond management levels and include frontline supervisors and health and safety representatives.

Eric Gcilitshana, national secretary for health and safety at NUM and EVFL work stream member says, “We are encouraging managers to not spend too much time doing administrative work in their offices, but to get out and about on their sites, coaching people in safety and encouraging them to do right if they see poor safety practice.”

Simplifying standard operating procedures
Following extensive consultation with key stakeholders, the Aligned Approach to Standards work stream identified some standard operating procedures (SOPs) were impractical and complicated, while others were inconsistent. To address this, the work stream developed a simple protocol and a framework for the development of non-negotiable, easy to understand standards.

Franz Stehring, UASA - Trade Union’s divisional manager for the mineral worker’s sector, adds: “It is important to note that high health and safety standards can be attained through teamwork, healthy relationships and commitment.”

“The communication of Zero Harm should be a constant theme carried by employers and other stakeholders. Stakeholders should believe that zero incidents are possible and that a collaborative effort would achieve this goal,” says Leigh McMaster, safety, health and environmental coordinator from Solidarity.

The Trade Fair will demonstrate Anglo American’s commitment to local procurement and highlight best practice in enterprise development through its Supply Chain and Zimele departments.

For further information, please contact:

South Africa
Hulisani Rasivhaga, Media
Tel: +27 (0)11 638 4401

Editor’s Notes:

The Tripartite Health and Safety Initiative is a strong partnership between Anglo American, labour organisations – National Union of Mineworkers, Solidarity and the United Association of South Africa – and the Department of Mineral Resources.

Since April 2008, the Tripartite steering group, which also includes the Mine Health and Safety Council and the Chamber of Mines, has been working together to find common solutions to address the health and safety challenges facing Anglo American’s South African operations and the industry at large.

Founded on principles of mutual care and respect, best practice sharing and continuous engagement, the five key work streams – Stakeholder Engagement; Capacity Building; Aligned Approach to Standards; Extended Visible Felt Leadership; and Health and Wellness – are developing various interventions that will seek to contribute to Anglo American’s journey towards Zero Harm.