Sustainable development

Safety bumpers being fitted to truck fleets

Anglo American initiated a Tripartite Safety Summit held in April 2008 in Johannesburg between South Africa’s Department of Minerals and Energy, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Anglo American, as well as other industry players and stakeholders.

A key theme arising was the need for all parties to work together to find common solutions to South Africa’s safety challenges, particularly in the mining industry and with a special focus on Anglo American.

The summit concluded with a declaration in which all parties agreed that a tripartite partnership was crucial in accomplishing a breakthrough in safety at Anglo American, and in the South African mining industry in general, and that there was no fundamental barrier to future collaboration.

Eric Gcilitshana, national secretary for health and safety for the NUM, said, “It is becoming increasingly apparent that we simply cannot reach a goal of zero harm without partnership, collaboration and alignment. Unless we work together, the safety, well-being and lives of employees and their families will continue to be at risk.”

A tripartite steering group has been pursuing the direction set at the summit. As part of this, and as a means of giving the delegation fresh insights into how to move towards the goal of zero harm, a steering group of 12 representatives from all three sectors conducted two study tours. A regional tour took place in August, which included Anglo Coal and Anglo Platinum operations.

In October, the delegation embarked on a 14-day international study tour to five countries, visiting sites in the mining, oil and gas, construction, utility, textile and chemical sectors. The tour was an opportunity to gather best practice and to challenge assumptions and mindsets around safety in mining in South Africa. The steering group is now working to turn the lessons from the study tour and its collective experience into joint action to improve safety performance substantially.