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Safety and health
The health and safety of our employees is our first priority and our primary objective is to operate the business free of injury and harm.
Safety
Our safety strategy is aligned to leading practice in global safety standards and systems and is fully owned and executed by the executive and operational leadership teams.
We believe that a safe environment is the outcome of a well-executed tactical, operational process and support this principle with the following focus areas:
- Complying with applicable laws, regulations and the voluntary commitments we have adopted
- Fostering a strong safety and health culture by providing effective and accountable leadership
- Continually improving occupational safety and health performance and management systems
- Striving to establish and maintain workplaces that are free from injury and harm
- Seeking to ensure that we have competent and capable people in roles, fit-for-purpose equipment, appropriate systems and procedures
- Proactively identifying, assessing and mitigating employee and contractor safety and health risks and opportunities
- Mitigating the community safety and health risks associated with our operations
- Adopting a stakeholder-inclusive philosophy by applying a consultative, participative and constructive approach in interaction with stakeholders
- Making our Health, Safety and Security Policy, related objectives and targets available to employees, contractors and other relevant stakeholders
- Using good-quality data, research and employee feedback in order to make informed, data-driven decisions and continually improve performance
All operating entities are ISO 45001:2018 certified.
For further information, refer to the Sustainability Report 2023: Ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing
Policies and standards
- Group Occupational Health and Safety Management System Reference Manual English, pdf
- Group Policy: Health, Safety and Security English, pdf Español, pdf Português, pdf Français, pdf
- Group Procedure: Occupational Injuries Data Definitions and Statistical Reporting English, pdf
- Group standard: Major Hazard Management English, pdf
- ICMM Health and Safety Performance Indicators English, pdf
HA | Total recordable injury frequency rate (per million hours worked)
HA | Fatal injuries at mines operated by AngloGold Ashanti (number of fatalities)
Employee, contractor and community health
Our aspiration remains to create healthy workplaces, healthy employees and healthy communities.
Our approach is driven by the interdependence between these – it is informed by the occupational environment as well as social determinants of health that lie beyond the mine fence.
Internally, key health issues facing the company include exposure to occupational hazards and the development of diseases such as silicosis, tuberculosis and noise induced hearing loss. We focus on prevention both in the short and long term by reducing harmful workplace exposures, optimising employee fitness for work and general wellbeing.
Contributing to improving community health involves strengthening local health systems for sustainability, as well as working in partnership with governments and other stakeholders to address specific health challenges.
For further information, refer to the Sustainability Report 2023: Ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing
HA | All occupational disease frequency rate (AODFR)
(per million hours worked)
Silicosis & TB class action settlement
In 2019, AngloGold Ashanti was part of a historic settlement. This settlement not only brought to a close a silicosis class suit by a number of attorneys acting on behalf of former mineworkers, it also sought to address certain shortcomings in the state-run compensation system.
On 10 December 2019, the agreement became unconditional with the delivery of the audited report of the optout process. Only three individuals chose to opt-out, confirming the near unanimous approval of the settlement agreement.
The Tshiamiso Trust started to make its first payouts in July 2021, and will continue to implement the agreement over the next 13 years.
For further information, refer to www.tshiamisotrust.com and www.oldcollab.co.za
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