Safety and health

South Africa – FIFR per
million hours worked
2004 to 2008

“Every person has my permission and full support to stop a working place if it is not safe.” These are the words of Johan Viljoen, Vice President of the Southern Africa Division, that were the basis of a large-scale management communication process undertaken in the division at the beginning of 2008. This was one of a number of processes aimed at ensuring a broad understanding of, and support for, the vision that safety is the foremost value within the company.

And the intense focus that safety and health has received, with a visible commitment from the top of the organisation, has paid dividends. In 2007, there were 27 fatalities in South Africa; in 2008 this number dropped to 11. The Fatal Injury Frequency Rate (FIFR) for the division improved by 58.6% year-on-year, from 0.29 per million hours to 0.12 per million hours. The Fatal Injury Frequency Rate (FIFR) for 2008 is also in line with the progressive SA Mining Industry Gold Mines 2013 milestones. At the same time the Dressing Injury Frequency Rate (DIFR) improved by 23.2%, from 28.77 per million hours to 22.1 per million hours and the Lost Time Injury Rate (LTIR) improved by 12.7%, from 12.72 per million hours to 11.10 per million hours.

SAFETY STRATEGY

The safety strategy for the division remains in place, with a focus on seven strategic issues, namely:

• fatigue management and, in particular, dealing with sleep disturbance and sleep deprivation, and the resultant fatigue, from long working hours or shift work;
• production flexibility, which provides for the availability of replacement panels (through sufficient face length) if unsafe conditions are encountered;
• retention of skills, and the training of employees and safety and health personnel in the face of significant national skills shortages;
• development of a safety culture, with an emphasis on safety as the first value;
• review process, which involves internal and external audits and compliance with standards such as OHSAS 18001;
• fall of ground management, which in itself looks at five elements: the design of mine layouts, support systems, the human factor, seismic monitoring, and research and development; and
• removing employees from areas and activities of high risk in the workplace.

WORK PRACTICE INITIATIVES

A number of inter-related initiatives and processes have been implemented during the year. Underpinning each of these has been widespread and broad-based consultation with employees and unions, and also with representatives from the Safety Inspectorate of the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME).

‘Care’ process

Core to the new vision that has been implemented is the concept of ‘Care’. The ‘Care’ programme is an organisational change approach that has as its base the way in which all employees (both managers and workers) value and respect the aspirations, capacities and needs of one other, and those of the company. The ‘Care’ initiative is not simply a mass communications campaign; rather it involves the development of individual and team-based compacts of expectations, and delivery against these in all aspects of life at work. Included within this compact is the responsibility and accountability for safety and health by management and employees alike. Tailor-made ‘Care’ training interventions have been undertaken on a site-by-site, section-by-section and discipline-by-discipline basis, in a very intensive process involving employees and managers in a process of joint decision-making and goal-setting. During this process, the training programmes were designed and conducted by senior line managers.

It’s OK

The ‘Care’ initiative has been supported, in turn, by a process to encourage and empower employees to stop working in places they feel are unsafe. A highly visible and intensive communication strategy was embarked upon across the division at the beginning of the second quarter which clearly explained the process and the associated roles and responsibilities. This included a clear directive from the head of the division that:

• stopping a workplace is about reducing the risk of injury and, in the long run, will improve bonuses and not reduce them;
• every individual has a right to stop work if he or she feels that it is unsafe to carry on, and mechanisms have been established for individuals to do so; and
• no employee should feel threatened in any way by exercising his or her right to stop work in unsafe conditions.

Complementing the ‘It’s OK’ process, has been the education of the workforce in respect of hazard identification and a risk-based approach to hazard mitigation. The ‘T’ principle (see box on page 180) has been a beneficial step in this process.

The initial results of this initiative have been significant (as can be seen from the graphs overleaf) following the launch of the ‘It’s OK’ process in May 2008. While an increased number of stoppages by supervisory personnel, safety representatives and team members is evident, this is still low. It is envisaged that the ‘It’s OK’ process will ensure that these segments of the workforce are increasingly empowered to call for stoppages should they be required.

Work stoppages (April 2008)

Work stoppages
(April to December 2008)

WHITE FLAG DAYS

As part of the process of ensuring that safety and its consequences are highly visible in the workplace, the ‘A White Flag Every Day’ initiative was launched. Highly visible flagpoles have been placed at the entrance to every operation and show the status of that operation’s safety performance during the previous shift. These flags serve to create awareness and shared responsibility among employees and managers alike. A flag at half-mast indicates a fatal accident; a red flag indicates a serious injury; an orange flag indicates a lost time injury; and a green flag indicates a dressing case. The aim, of course, is to have a white flag, (that is, no injuries) every day.

CHANGE IS A PROCESS, NOT AN EVENT

“The initiatives that we have embarked on involve changing the fundamental culture of our company. They are processes and not events, and the results will not manifest overnight.” So says Peter Lombard: Head, Health and Safety, Sustainable Development and Human Resource Development for the Southern Africa Division.

“This process has and needed a very clear strategic directive from the top of the company, as well as the very real need to make people accountable for their own safety and that of their colleagues. This process is also enhanced through extensive dialogue sessions. Equally important is changing the context in which people work – by instilling mutual respect and ‘permission’ to stop work in unsafe conditions.

“It is not all plain sailing. We live with the baggage of the past, particularly at a social level, where mistrust and a lack of respect continues to pervade some of our working places. It has been vitally important to involve unions and associations, as well as the DME in our process,” he explains.

One way in which this involvement has been secured is through a ‘Change Lab’ process that has been run under the auspices of the Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry (CSMI), a specialist department within the School of Mining Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand. Led by Professor May Hermanus, former Chief Inspector of Mines in South Africa, the process includes engagement with a wide range of stakeholders at all levels. The ‘Change Lab’ itself represents a collective effort to address vital, complex challenges within a given social system. It is a structured process for building up a shared understanding of the current reality and the various players’ role in it; it is an analysis of what is possible and what is required, and what the role-players will do in order to co-create a new reality. It is being concluded in conjunction with consulting company REOS.

Says Professor Hermanus, “We, at the CSMI, are very excited to work with AngloGold Ashanti on this project to explore how stakeholders could meet to discuss concerns which they share, but which they in all likelihood experience differently and/or on which they may hold very different perspectives. The objective of the project is to co-create a safety strategy which could result in substantive and sustained improvement.

“CSMI is working in partnership with REOS to bring all the players affected by safety in AngloGold Ashanti together to listen and learn from one another and to plan the next steps together. This approach should provide opportunities for senior executives to work with those most exposed to safety hazards. The process is to be carefully documented to enable sharing across the mining sector. In sharing and developing common initiatives on the way forward, we also hope to build durable and respectful relationships which can see the project through to completion.”

In the run-up to the process, research undertaken by the CSMI indicated several emerging themes that need to be considered and driven by this ‘Change Lab’. These include:

• the tension between the reality of care and a lack of care experienced in the workplace;
• the need to clarify roles and responsibilities;
• issues relating to race and transformation;
• the allocation of justice, blame and punishment;
• problems created by a lack of common language;
• skills and capacity;
• leadership styles; and
• the role of women in mining.

These and other areas of concern will continue to be addressed in 2009.