WCA Case Study | March 2011
2010 marked the first year ever that Anglo American's Thermal Coal division was fatality free. It also recorded its best LTIFR (Lost Time Injuries Frequency Rate per 200,000 manhours worked) of 0.21, a 25% year-on-year improvement. This success is partly due to the SRMP but also to the implementation of its Fatal Risk Standards and the grass roots drive to improve focus on safety, fitness, health and family.
The company put in place the SRMP in 2008 and is now making it available to other companies internationally.
Safety Risk Management
The Programme was established to institutionalise safety standards and practices across all of Anglo's activities and to support the company's 'Zero Harm' policy, which was put in place in 2005. It is based on best practices and insights from the mining, nuclear, aviation and chemical industries and involves practical tools based on a participatory approach. The objective is also to set an industry standard by establishing common terminology across various levels of management, including senior executives and line managers. Ultimately all Anglo American staff must always makes the right decisions on safety.
The Programme was developed by Anglo American in conjunction with the University of Queensland, Australia. Once it was established, 25 lecturers delivered the course to over 3000 managers and executives, including participants from other mining companies, government and labour organisations.
The course first looks into a set of risk management concepts and establishes common definitions of various hazards, unwanted events, incidents, risks and control barriers. The second part of the course looks into risk assessment on both an individual and company basis. The course establishes a model of the risk management process, with lecturers encouraging course participants, managers and executives to define their role and precise goals within the company's broader policy of 'Zero Harm'.
After the course, managers and executives across all levels of the company should be able to take better decisions about risks in their every day work and be able to communicate risks internally in a way that ensures a safe working environment at all levels of the company.
Widening Scope
In 2010, Anglo American opened its Safety Risk Management Programme to other companies in the mining industry under the 'Global Minerals Industry Risk Management' course and has the potential to set a common safety standard for mining activities across the world.
Under the global outreach strategy for the SRMP, the programme will be delivered through a network of universities where it will be taught in local languages and with local experts.
Universities in Africa, Europe, North and South America, as well as in Australia and Asia are already part of the network and lecturers from institutions in these regions are expected
to add a regional perspective to the core of the programme which will be delivered according to the same standards globally.
The innovative nature of the programme was recognised by the Institute of Chemical Engineers who awarded Anglo American with the Innovation and Excellence award in Health and Safety in 2009. The added value of the programme, in comparison to some existing initiatives, is that it involves academics and universities.
This strong link to academia helps to ensure the credibility of the material content of the course and its academic value stay in tact and can be shared on a best practice basis with the other universities worldwide.
The global roll out of Anglo American's Safety Risk Management Programme could contribute to the improvement of safety in mines around the world. If the programme is delivered with the same success as within Anglo American, there could be a 25% reduction in the number of fatalities and injuries in mining activities globally.
Further information: www.angloamerican.com/aal/development/safety-and-health/Safety
