Health and safety
Critical risk management
A small number of hazards account for almost all fatal outcomes in mining. Each carries controls that cannot be waived at site level.
The principle
Most injuries and almost all fatalities in the mining industry arise from a small and well-characterised set of hazards. Treating every hazard with equal management attention produces a system in which the ones that kill people receive the same attention as the ones that do not. Critical risk management is the opposite approach: we identify in advance the hazards capable of causing a fatality, give each a defined set of mandatory controls, and verify those controls in the field rather than assume them.
A critical control is mandatory. It cannot be waived, substituted or deferred at site level. Where a critical control is not in place, the work does not proceed.
Key facts
Critical risks
Ten critical risks, each with mandatory controls that cannot be waived at site level.
Mandatory controls
Where a critical control is not in place, the work does not proceed.
Verification
We verify in the field on the work, not on the paperwork.
Potential-fatality events
We investigate a potential-fatality event as we would a fatality.
The critical risks and their controls
Verification
Each critical control has a defined verification method, a defined frequency and a named verifier. We verify in the field on the work as it is being done, not on the document describing it. Where verification finds a control absent or ineffective, we stop the work, restore the control, and record and analyse the finding for whether the control has failed at other sites.
Learning from events
We investigate a potential-fatality event on the same basis as an actual fatality, because the difference between them is frequently a matter of chance rather than of control. The investigation identifies which critical control failed and why, and we apply the finding across every site where we rely on the same control.
Reporting
Where an activity generates them, counts of critical control verifications, potential-fatality events and control failures are published. We record each, so that reporting rests on a consistent basis.
Raising a concern
Employees, suppliers, communities and any other party may raise a concern through the confidential reporting channels. We provide for anonymous reporting, and we do not tolerate retaliation against a person who raises a concern in good faith.
