Access to and Management of Resources
Refer to the following sections for details on our key sustainability challenge of access to and management of resources:
Our Challenge
Access to resources is fundamental to the sustainability of our business. Our challenge is to achieve access to the resources relevant to our scope of operations while addressing heightened political and societal expectations related to obtaining and maintaining a 'licence to operate'.
Our Drivers
Appropriately identifying and effectively managing issues about access to resources is essential if we are to:
- obtain and maintain a 'licence to operate'
- improve access to new business opportunities
- keep ahead of regulations and reduce business uncertainty
- enhance and protect our reputation
- differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
These are key to our sustainability as a business and our ability to deliver long-term share growth and shareholder value.
Our Approach
Our approach to addressing the challenge of access to and the management of resources is based on:
- having systems and processes — Sustainable Development Policy and HSEC Management Standards — to manage risks and issues, including those relating to our relationships with our internal and external stakeholders, human rights and the environment, including biodiversity.
- requiring sites to assess their exposure to potential human rights issues and develop management plans to address key exposures through our human rights self-assessment process.
- all operations developing and implementing a community relations plan to ensure important stakeholder issues are identified and managed.
- Requiring environmental and social impact assessments for all development projects.
- sites having and maintaining land management plans to identify, protect and enhance agreed beneficial land uses, including the consideration of biodiversity values. Furthermore, sites that operate in sensitive areas continue to implement biodiversity management programs.
- utilising internal tollgating and assessment tools, including formal risk and impact assessments, to identify environmental and social risks and issues associated with accessing resources and to ensure they are appropriately managed.
- proactively engaging our stakeholders and working with them to identify and manage their issues and concerns.
- publicly committing to a number of policy positions in conjunction with our key stakeholders; for example:
- In conjunction with the International Council on Mining and Metals and the World Conservation Union, we undertake not to explore or mine in World Heritage properties and commit to take all possible steps to ensure that the effects of operations adjacent to these areas are not incompatible with the outstanding universal values of World Heritage properties.
- Our position on riverine tailings developed in conjunction with our Forum on Corporate Responsibility states we will not commit to a new mining project that disposes of waste rock or tailings into a river.
- Our position on deep sea tailings placement, developed in conjunction with our Forum on Corporate Responsibility, states 'BHP Billiton has decided not to pursue Deep Sea Tailings Placement (DSTP) as a potential tailing disposal option for any of its current prospects. The Company also believes that given the very specific circumstances where DSTP could be considered appropriate, it is unlikely that the technology will be pursued in any of our future developments.'
- Our Black Economic Empowerment and Employment Equity policies underpin our commitment to accelerating development and fostering entrepreneurship of historically disadvantaged groups in South Africa.
Read more:
Our 2006 Priorities
In 2006, the scope of this sustainability challenge was broadened to place greater focus on social and environmental impact assessment to support operational licences and approvals and on integrating closure planning with mine planning and budgeting. The priorities for the 2005/06 reporting year were:
- Access to Land
- Completing environmental and social impact assessments for all development projects, in accordance with our HSEC Management Standards, and completing environmental management plans to manage identified issues
- Managing Australian pastoral land holdings in accordance with relevant management plans.
- Access to Water
- Establishing an internal Community of Practice to share knowledge and leading practice on water management
- Continuing to identify business risks and opportunities for access, efficient use and disposal
- Developing alternative water supply solutions at Olympic Dam (Australia) and Escondida (Chile) to relieve supply issues and reduce environmental impacts of historic water extraction methods
- Improving water efficiency and recovery at all operations in accordance with BHP Billiton efficiency targets.
- Biodiversity
- Continuing to implement biodiversity management plans at sites operating in sensitive areas
- Surveying flora and fauna as part of exploration programs in sensitive areas
- Identifying and assessing biodiversity risks at all sites and, where relevant, incorporating these in site closure plans
- Establishing an internal Community of Practice to share knowledge and leading practice on biodiversity management.
- Access to Skills
- Improving the effectiveness of our recruitment strategies and processes to effectively target the skill-sets required
- Having a strong focus on the recruitment and development of graduates from around the world
- Developing key relationships with industry and educational and institutional bodies to develop a pool of candidates for the mining industry
- Providing scholarships and direct university sponsorship to ensure the continued sustainability of the education infrastructure supporting the supply of professional mining resources
- Increasing our support of and intake into apprenticeships programs with a view to increasing the pool of trade-qualified personnel
- Developing our internal talent to best meet the future needs of the business.
Our 2006 Performance
Targets |
2005/06 Performance Against Target |
|
|---|---|---|
Zero significant environmental incidents (i.e. rated 3 and above on the BHP Billiton Consequence Severity Table) |
 |
Three Level 3 environmental incidents (FY05: 3) |
Legal Compliance |
|
Seven fines greater than US$1,000. Total fines paid US$479,809 (FY05: US$20,836)2 |
Risk Management All sites to undertake annual self-assessments against the BHP Billiton HSEC Management Standards3 and have plans to achieve conformance with the Standards by 30 June 2008 |
 |
94 per cent of required self-assessments were completed at operating sites (FY05: 100%) |
 |
An overall conformance of 3.9 out of 5 has been achieved, compared to our conformance target of greater than 4 (FY05: 3.9 out of 5) |
|
All sites4 to maintain ISO 14001 Certification |
 |
98 per cent of sites requiring ISO 14001 are certified or have been recommended for certification by their ISO auditor (FY05: 100%) |
Risk registers to be in place and maintained at all sites4 and within BHP Billiton businesses and Corporate offices |
|
Risk registers are in place at 99 per cent of required sites, businesses and Corporate offices |
Water Aggregate Group target of 10 per cent reduction in fresh water consumption per unit of production by 30 June 2007 |
 |
During the year our water intensity reduced by 6 per cent, resulting in an overall increase to date of 1 per cent against the baseline5 |
All sites with fresh water consumption greater than 500 ML per year6 to have and maintain water management plans |
 |
Water management plans in place at 99 per cent of required sites and at 27 sites that were below the usage threshold (FY05: 97%; 26 sites) |
Waste |
|
Waste minimisation programs in place at 97 per cent of required sites and at 7 sites that were not required to meet this target (FY05: 98%; 14 sites) |
Aggregate Group target of 20 per cent reduction in waste (excluding recycled and mining-related materials, such as waste rock, tailings, coal reject and slag) per unit of production by 30 June 2007 |
 |
During the year our general waste intensity index reduced by 14 per cent, resulting in an overall reduction to date of 24 per cent against the baseline5 |
 |
During the year our hazardous waste intensity index increased by 22 per cent, resulting in an overall reduction to date of 38 per cent against the baseline5 |
|
Land management |
|
Land management plans in place at 97 per cent of required sites and at 17 sites that were not required to meet this target (FY05: 98%; 21 sites) |
Product stewardship |
|
Life cycle assessments (ISO14043 compliant) have been completed for all major commodities. |
-
Performance change since last reporting period:
Overall performance against target:
Target exceeded or ahead of schedule 
Performance tracking steadily 
Target achieved (≥ 95%) or on track 
Performance has improved 
Target behind schedule 
Performance has declined Target not achieved
1. Fines reported may relate to incidents that occurred in previous years.
2. Prosecutions included are those that have been determined during the year and
resulted in fines. They may relate to incidents that occurred in previous years.
The only exception is a safety fine, which was received in the 2005 reporting period but was not reported last year as it was being held in trust pending appeal. The fine became payable in the 2006 reporting period.3. Issue 3 of the BHP Billiton HSEC Management Standards was introduced in
September 2005.4. Includes 59 sites in total, excludes exploration and development projects,
sites being divested, closed sites, and offices. Also excludes recent acquisitions
e.g. WMC, which have two years to achieve compliance with target.5. The Group’s intensity indices have been modified to exclude data from the
Chrome business in all years, including the base year, as it was divested.
Ex-WMC sites data have not been included in intensity indices as they were
not part of the business when the baselines were set.6. Forty-six sites have fresh water consumption greater than 500 ML per year
and, combined, account for more than 98 per cent of the Group’s consumption.7. Excludes petroleum platforms, exploration and development projects, closed
sites, and offices with no significant community or land management issues.
Also excludes recent acquisitions, e.g. WMC, which have a year to achieve
compliance with the target.
8. Excludes petroleum and diamonds.
Read more: Targets Scorecard for a review of performance against all Company sustainability targets.
Our Goals
- Expand our biodiversity focus from being site-specific to regional (2007)
- Examine our approach to biodiversity offsets and continue to develop opportunities (2007)
- Develop metrics to better understand biodiversity values and improve the identification and management of biodiversity-related issues (mid term)
- Develop Ccompany-wide Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Guidelines to ensure consistency in the study and evaluation of the impacts of new developments (2007)
- Improve our approach to the assessment and management of human rights risks within our sphere of influence (2007)
- Fully integrate environmental and social assessment processes and findings into business management systems (mid term)
- Improve our access to and retention of skills through the implementation of a multi-dimensional human resource strategy (mid term)
- Continue to improve our approach to ensuring that water is recognised and managed as a critical resource in exploration and development activities (ongoing)
- Further investigate mining and processing technologies to reduce our high-quality water requirements (mid term)
- Establish a new BHP Billiton water efficiency target (2007).
