Global Safety Day 2015

Global Safety Day is part of our ongoing programme that encapsulates our group-wide approach to safety, culminating in a day of employee activities and workshops. Find out how our international sites and operations marked the occasion in the article below.

Our employees work in some of the most challenging environments on earth. Whether deep in an underground mine or in proximity to a fiery furnace, keeping them safe comes first.

Our goal is to achieve Zero Harm – where no employee is hurt, injured or killed at the workplace.

That’s why activities for Global Safety Day 2015 focused specifically on controls, with different activities taking place across global sites earlier this week.

But what is Global Safety Day and what do we mean when we talk about ‘controls’?

Global Safety Day is a day in name only – it’s really an ongoing programme that raises safety awareness and builds safety knowledge, culminating in a day of team exercises and planning across Anglo American’s global operations and offices.

Controls are the systems in place that stop us getting hurt such as, in everyday life, smoke alarms or traffic lights. For our employees working directly in our mines, these controls are more specialist but no less important.

What happened on Global Safety Day?

In the images below, you can see how Anglo American employees across the world have taken part in Global Safety Day activities this year:

Colleagues in Coal South Africa, Australia and Canada had a busy day with a combination of large sessions and smaller group site-led sessions looking at what actions were needed to improve control implementation and use.
Kumba Iron Ore teams used the day to further extend and deepen the work they are already doing to focus on their priority safety risks. This included a competition based hazards and controls exercise.
In Chile, at the copper operations at Los Bronces, Chagres and El Soldado and head office in Santiago, teams dived deeply into their critical risks, learning from external experts how to improve their control management.
Iron Ore Brazil employees each received an innovative sticker book about the critical risk and controls where they work. They were challenged to work together to match the correct control figures to the right elements.
In London and Johannesburg, teams performed an interactive activity where they learnt about the controls that are in place to prevent unwanted events like fire, loss of control of a vehicle while driving, threats to their personal safety, health and security while travelling, or being electrocuted by a piece of equipment (all things that have happened to people who work there).
De Beers also had its own programme of Global Safety Day activities covering all its operations – on and off shore.

As in previous years, members of Anglo American’s Group Management Committee visited sites and corporate offices on the day to experience first-hand the work being done to improve control implementation and use. For instance, Mark Cutifani, our chief executive, visited the Mogalakwena open pit platinum mine in South Africa with Platinum chief executive, Chris Griffith.

Protecting the future for our families

Prior to the event, René Aguilar, our group head of safety, said that the success of Global Safety Day 2015 depended entirely on all Anglo American employees getting involved and taking practical action to improve the use of controls.

“It’s important that we all recognise that enhancing control use is the single biggest thing we can all do to improve safety and help protect not just individual lives but also the futures of families, children and communities. Given that, it’s vital that everyone takes a full, active and ongoing part in Global Safety Day activities over the coming weeks and months.”

Francesco Raveggi, this year’s group project manager for Global Safety Day and a recent new joiner, has found being part of such a high profile programme the perfect introduction to Anglo American.

“I joined the team in May and it has been a very rewarding experience. Being involved has given me the perfect opportunity to quickly understand Anglo American’s safety and corporate culture. It’s also allowed me to contribute to a programme that makes a big difference to peoples’ professional and personal lives. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to the company.”

Safety is our key concern at Anglo American and this year’s Global Safety Day has once again made sure that this topic remains front of mind.

What are the safety challenges in your work place? What controls help you to avoid risk? Comment below and join the conversation.

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