Entire Annual Report - Anglo American Platinum

Review of Operations – Overviews" Overview of Safety and Health . . .Safety and HealthThe Group is committed to ensuring the safety and health of its employees andstrives to ensure that all are aware of the nature of the dangers to which theymay be exposed. The Group’s “Zero Tolerance” initiative launched in August1999 is aimed at creating an optimum safety and health culture in the Groupand there is a growing awareness of this objective. It is therefore distressingthat Group safety performance deteriorated significantly from that achieved in1999. At year end, 23 employees (7 of whom were contractors) had lost theirlives in work-related accidents. The main cause of death was falls of ground(FOG), which claimed the lives of 12 employees in 11 separate incidents.During 1999, 3 employees were killed in 3 separate FOG incidents.In response, all safety programmes throughout the Group were re-examinedand hazard identification and risk assessment programmes were reviewed andupgraded where appropriate. All operations were audited by accredited thirdparties, such as International Risk Control Africa and the NationalOccupational Safety Association, in line with the requirements of the MineHealth and Safety Act and other pertinent legislation.Despite having its own policies on safety and health, Anglo Platinum decided toadopt formally the Anglo American plc Safety, Health and Environmental Policyand is currently redrafting its in-house policies accordingly.Significant work was performed by the Business Units in setting up and usingthe Anglo American plc database to record safety, health and environmentaldata for reporting and management purposes. There were major teethingproblems initially but these have essentially been resolved.In parallel with the introduction of the Anglo American plc database, workcontinued on the computerised Marknet occupational safety and healthmanagement system project to link all personnel, safety, occupationalhygiene/medicine, environment and public health data. All system changes foroccupational hygiene/medicine and safety were completed and roll-out to theBusiness Units commenced at year end. Environment and public healthmodules will roll out during the second quarter of 2001.During early 2000 it was felt that the safety, health and environment initiativeat Corporate level was somewhat fragmented. To rectify this situation a CorporateDepartment was created in which safety, occupational hygiene/medicine, publichealth and environment specialists report via the Group safety, health andRPM hospital theatre54