Corporate Responsibility Report 2008 - Impala Platinum

Independent statement of assuranceTo the Board and stakeholders ofImplats:Implats commissioned Trialogue Assurance Services(‘Trialogue’) to provide independent assurance overthe content of this 2008 Corporate ResponsibilityReport, the ‘Report’ (covering the period 1 July2007 to 30 June 2008). Our assurance teamcomprised individuals with experience inenvironmental and social performancemeasurement. The team has collectively undertakenover 40 assurance engagements in variouscountries over the past nine years.IndependenceTrialogue was not responsible for the preparation ofany part of this Report and has not undertaken anycommissions for Implats in the reporting period thatwould compromise our independence. Trialogue’sresponsibility in performing its assurance activities isto the management of Implats alone and inaccordance with the terms of reference agreedwith them. The assurance team comprisedindividuals with experience in environmental andsocial performance measurement.Assurance objectivesThe objectives of the assurance process were to:• provide stakeholders of Implats with anindependent, ‘Limited Assurance’, opinion onthe consistency, completeness and accuracy ofthe sustainability performance informationpresented in the Report; and• determine the degree to which the Report isconsistent with the reporting requirements ofthe Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) G3Guidelines (hereafter, ‘GRI G3 Guidelines’).Scope of work performedSustainability performance indicatorsThe environmental, safety and social performanceindicators selected for assurance were determinedjointly with Implats, following a review of Implats’key sustainability risks, the identification ofindicators considered relevant to stakeholders andmanagement, as well as our experience of the risksassociated with reporting sustainabilityperformance and the systems and processes inplace to mitigate those risks.The indicators subject to review were:Energy consumption; water consumption; directcarbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions; indirect CO 2emissions; sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions;number of new cases of Noise Induced HearingLoss (NIHL); Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate(LTIFR); Fatality Injury Frequency Rate (FIFR);number of employees on Antiretroviral Treatment(ART); employee Voluntary Counselling andTesting (VCT) uptake; number of new cases ofTuberculosis (TB); number of employees on AdultBasic Education and Training (ABET); HistoricallyDisadvantaged South African (HDSA) personsemployed at a management level; number ofwomen in mining; HDSA procurement as apercentage of total procurement; and SocioeconomicDevelopment (SED) spend.GRI G3 complianceThe Report was reviewed to determine thedegree to which it was consistent with the GRIG3 guidelines.Assurance methodologySustainability performance indicatorsThe process used in arriving at this assurancestatement is based on the GRI’s G3 guidanceand other best practice in sustainability reportingassurance. Our approach to assurance includedthe following:• a review of Implats’ measurement and reportingprocedures, background documentation anddata collection procedures;• a review of the reported data for anysignificant anomalies;• a series of interviews with key personnelresponsible for collating and writing variousparts of the Report in order to ensure selectedclaims were reported and substantiated; and• the examination of the aggregation and/orderivation of, and underlying evidence for, theindicators under review and statements madein the Report.GRI complianceIn determining the GRI G3 ‘Application Level’ ofthe Report, we performed the following exercises:• a review of the process used to define thecontent of the Report by looking at materialityof issues included in the Report, stakeholder14 Corporate Responsibility Report 08