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'Occupational and community health is a key sustainability challenge for our Company.'
Message from the Vice President Health
- Peter Shanahan
Vice President Health
Occupational and community health is a key sustainability challenge for our Company. In 2006 we continued to improve our approach to the various health risks present in the regions in which we operate, and achieved a number of key successes.
A key improvement was the consolidation of health significant incident data into the Company-wide Significant Incident Reporting System. As a result, analysis of, and learnings from, significant incidents will be improved.
The Fit for Work/Fit for Life initiative, which was introduced in the previous reporting period, is now an established Company program. In 2006 we enhanced our approach with the appointment of a Global Practice Leader, supported by an active Community of Practice and associated regional and site-based workshops.
Fatigue in the workplace is one of the many health issues identified by our Fit for Work/Fit for Life Program and during the year it emerged as a key health risk, with a number of significant incidents having fatigue as a primary cause. A Practice Leader has also been appointed to provide our operations with expert assistance in implementing fatigue management strategies, and we are also working closely with a key supplier of vehicles and equipment to review available fatigue management technologies.
During the year we also initiated a Medical Assessment Project designed to facilitate the development of a set of Company-wide guidelines. With diverse work environments and an increasingly ageing workforce, the need for improved assessment of fitness for work is paramount. Aligned with this initiative will also be an increased focus on health promotion.
Reducing exposure of employees to potentially harmful elements in the workplace remains a challenge, and current data suggests that there has been reduction in employee exposure when taking a whole-of-Company perspective. However, our continued aim is to remove or avoid hazards through engineering or design solutions wherever possible.
Our Diesel Particulate initiative has been rolled out at all current underground mining operations to help reduce exposure to this contaminant. We have also initiated projects to reduce acid mist and nickel exposure at relevant operations.
A Noise Community of Practice has been established across the Company to advance the reduction of noise exposure, particularly in the design and purchase of new equipment.
We have also continued our good work towards assisting the prevention and treatment of the major infectious diseases that affect many of our operations.
Over the last year the threat of a worldwide pandemic associated with the avian flu has become more evident. The Company formed a Pandemic Working Group in mid 2005 to respond to this issue and assist in business continuity planning. Documentation has been developed to assist all businesses with this process and ensure that the issue is linked to standard contingencies and crisis and emergency response procedures.
We continue to have a responsibility to manage the impact of HIV/AIDS in order to care for our employees, protect the viability of our operations and support the wellbeing and development of our host communities. We have taken a lead role in promoting the development of a new HIV/AIDS immune therapy which we hope will be trialled in South Africa. The treatment is delivered in the form of a vaccination, and it is expected it will offer new options for management of the disease in resource-constrained environments of the developing world.
The health and wellbeing of people are central to the success of our business. We are proud of our efforts to understand the potential for health risks and establish suitable mitigation measures that are integral to the success of our journey towards Zero Harm, while acknowledging that there are still many opportunities to improve our performance.
Peter Shanahan
Vice President Health
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