Health, Safety and Wellbeing

ISO 45001 Certification recieved at Sukari

24% Improvement on TRIFR (1M HRS) versus 3-year trailing average

83% Improvement on LTIFR (1M HRS) versus 3-year trailing average

Safety is our priority

Mining is a high-risk industry. The nature of our core business activities of exploration, mining, construction and processing creates a complex work environment requiring a rigorous health and safety culture. In line with our core Value ‘Protect’, it is our responsibility to create a safe and healthy workplace for our 4,900 employees and contractors. We understand that failing to manage these high-risk environments has the potential to result in injury or loss of life.

Maintaining an active health and safety culture is critical to achieving an injury-free, stress-free and healthy work environment. Our safety culture entails strong, visible safety leadership and robust processes, controls and training, empowering our workforce to be their own safety leaders. Our goal is for everyone to go home safe and healthy every day.

Risk management is the foundation to how we manage health and safety, from hazard awareness and identification, and routine review and assessment of mitigating measures to reduce the risk to as low as reasonably practicable.

Our Safety, Health & Wellbeing Policy defines principles and commitments to safeguard the wellbeing of persons impacted by our activities and to comply with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

The Policy is guided by the principle of shared responsibility, and a belief that all employees, individually, are responsible for the creation of a safe working environment for themselves and their colleagues. The policy is implemented at asset-level through robust health and safety systems that are framed around the adopted Critical Risk Standards, behavioural standards and compliance with all relevant host-country laws.

We have adopted tiered assurance of our health & safety systems and performance comprising regular internal reviews, overseen and supported by the Sustainability Committee, and successfully completed an audit for certification to ISO 45001 at Sukari.

We have adopted tiered assurance of our health & safety systems and performance comprising regular internal reviews, overseen and supported by the Sustainability Committee, as well as independent review of conformity against ISO 45001 at Sukari.

The most effective approach to preventing accidents and diseases from occurring in the workplace is to ensure that all hazards are identified or anticipated and that there are programmes in place to mitigate the risk to As Low As Reasonably Practical (“ALARP”).

By following the Plan Do Check Act (“PDCA”) cycle, we ensure that each asset is routinely risk assessed and that there are programmes in place that monitor evolving and developing risks as well as the effectiveness of current mitigations.

CRITICAL RISK STANDARDS

Critical risks are defined as events that can cause grave damage to mine operation or result in worker fatality and are essential for control. Our twelve Critical Risk Standards assist us to make decisions on the most important and effective safety interventions.

These standards are integrated into our occupational health and safety management system and support our commitment to zero-harm. Each critical risk is assigned to a nominated member of the site leadership group and supported by a risk assessment using the Bow-Tie model to ensure that the appropriate controls have been identified for each possible risk source and allow for effective management of the risk.

ASSET-LEVEL RISK REGISTER

Each asset and operational department has in place a risk register that identifies material risks. The risks are ranked according to their potential severity and mitigating controls defined to reduce the severity to an acceptable level. Heads of department are responsible for ensuring that the risk register remains current and that the corrective and preventative actions are tracked through to completion.

A quarterly risk review is conducted at leadership-level and encourages a regular review of safety management across the business. Leading and lagging indicators, and progress against safety targets are reviewed. Corrective and preventative actions related to lagging indicators are reassessed to ensure that they remain relevant and effective.

The risk register is updated as necessary to include any additional risks that may have been identified during review of the performance indicators.

HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND REPORTING

All workers are trained in hazard recognition, avoidance and reporting. All hazards, regardless of the potential severity, are entered into a hazard register including the corrective and preventative actions.

No hazard identified may be left uncontrolled and the hazard register is updated and monitored by the HSES Department on a daily basis to track the close-out of the corrective and preventative actions. Any action overdue its target date triggers a reporting process to the relevant level of authority.

CARDINAL SAFETY RULES

Cardinal Safety Rules are in place at each of our operational assets to protect the safety of our workforce. Failing to follow one or more of these rules may cause injury or loss of life. These rules are reviewed annually and updates made as and when required.

Compliance with the Cardinal Safety Rules is mandatory and linked to the operational workforce performance bonus structure and individual performance appraisals. All workers must demonstrate their commitment to follow the cardinal rules, report non-compliance and understand that any breaches will attract disciplinary action.

INCIDENT INVESTIGATION

It is mandatory for all employees and contractors to report near-hits and incidents for investigation. The level of investigation required is dependent on the actual severity or the potential severity of the incident. Any injury more serious than a first aid injury or high potential incident is investigated using the Incident Cause Analysis Method (“ICAM”) and all corrective and preventative actions identified and tracked through to completion.

TAKE 5

Prior to the commencement of any task, workers are required to stop and assess the job at hand to identify and control any potential hazards that may have not already been addressed. The assessment is guided by a ‘Take 5’ checklist that must be completed before the job can start and assists in ensuring that all possible controls are in place. Controls may include additional hazard identification and/or controls through a job safety analysis (“JSA”), additional personal protective equipment (“PPE”), additional training, or supervisor intervention.

We strive to create good social and living conditions for our workforce. This is expected to have the dual benefit of improving worker health and mental wellbeing, productivity and motivation.

Our Safety, Health & Wellbeing Policy commits to promoting, educating and supporting our workers to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We engage with our workforce to identify and evaluate potential mental and physical health risks and impacts and develop wellbeing programmes and the facilities to achieve, maintain and support optimal health.

Health-related campaigns are regularly communicated and discussed through pre-shift meetings to promote awareness, management, and preventative measures. The range of topics covered are based on prevalent medical conditions, and include common non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases, mental wellbeing, personal hygiene and the effect that seasonal environmental changes may have on the body.

At Sukari, our Wellbeing Committee is tasked to support our employees to adopt healthier lifestyles.

We recognise that no matter how robust management systems may be, it is necessary to prepare for the failure of a system or control and ensure that there are plans and resources in place to reduce the consequences of such a failure. For this reason, emergency preparedness and response is an integral part of our operational health and safety management system.

Due to the remoteness of the site and the expected delay of receiving external support, Sukari has a dedicated emergency response team which is equipped and trained to deal with any number of scenarios involving surface and underground mine infrastructure and activities including fire, confined space, high angle, hazmat and motor vehicle-related emergency situations; as well as an ambulance furnished with advanced life support equipment. Testing of scenarios is carried out routinely each month through exercises and drills to identify any shortcomings in training, resources or processes and procedures that can be improved to minimise the impact of an emergency. All emergency response personnel are required to undergo recertification annually and attend a set number of training hours each month.

In addition to the asset-level emergency preparedness and response plan, we maintain a Crisis Management and Business Continuity Plan in the case of severe disruptions to the organisation.