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Safety and health
The safety and health of employees are fundamental to the sustainability of AngloGold's business. Management and employees, in consultation with representatives of trade unions and government, are working towards improving safety and health in the workplace.
Considerable resources and effort are dedicated to identifying and implementing best practices across the company.
During the year:
Africa
Navachab mine in Namibia retained its five-star rating, following another year of exceptionally good safety and health performance. The mine had only two lost time injuries and a Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate per million hours worked (LTIFR) of 1.34.
Sadiola achieved a National Occupational Safety Association (NOSA) five-star rating in December 2000. The mine had an excellent year with only two lost time injuries and an LTIFR of 0.81 compared with 3.06 in 1999.
Yatela recorded only five lost time injuries during the year. The Yatela team has adopted Sadiola's safety systems, including the zero tolerance approach to safety.
Morila recorded 53 lost time injuries during construction and commissioning. Safety is expected to improve in 2001 as the construction contractors, who recorded a large proportion of these accidents, will have left site. Of concern is the exceptionally high incidence of confirmed malaria cases in the immediate area and experts have been appointed to research the problem.
The LTIFR for the Australian operations continued to improve from 7.4 in 1999 to 5.93 in 2000.
To improve the safe passage of employees to remote mining and exploration locations, a thorough audit of fly-in/fly-out aviation charters was conducted. The corrective actions identified will assist in the development of air charter safety guidelines.
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With its intrinsic value and enduring qualities, gold has been used for centuries to adorn places of worship and in rituals of faith. |
Jerritt Canyon had an exceptionally good year, having recorded no lost time injuries. The Murray and MCE mines were recognised by the Nevada Mining Association for exceptional safety performance in their respective size categories.
Cripple Creek's LTIFR increased from 1.61 in 1999 to 6.92 in 2000, mainly as a result of contractor injuries, now included in reporting statistics.
South Africa
AngloGold management and employees, as well as representatives of trade unions and government, have maintained their focus on the improvement of the safety and health of employees, and the performance has again been the best on record.
While considerable resources have been dedicated to improving safety and health performance, 49 people lost their lives at AngloGold's operations as a result of work-related accidents. The significant improvement in the Fatal Injury Frequency Rate (FIFR) has been underpinned by a 20 per cent reduction in the number of lost time and reportable injuries recorded. The objective remains to eliminate fatal accidents.
In January of 2000, the Mine Health and Safety Council introduced a number of safety awards recognising excellence in safety on South African mines. TauTona (one of the deepest mines in the world) won the "Safety Achievement Flag" in the ultra deep gold and platinum mine category.
Four AngloGold mines obtained one million fatality-free shifts status and Tshepong mine was fatal accident-free for the year.
Falls of ground remained the biggest single cause of serious accidents. Whilst marginal improvements have been made to the number of lost time injuries due to falls of ground, the number of serious injuries due to seismically-induced falls of ground has been reduced by 25 per cent. Work is continuing to effect further improvement.
A follow-up review by an international safety and health expert was concluded in December 2000, suggesting further refinements to AngloGold's strategy to ensure consolidation and improvement and a permanent change in culture. The review commended the progress made with the all-round improvement in accident rates since 1998, noting that structures were now in place to ensure that health and safety is properly addressed and managed.
Moab Khotsong mine continued its excellent record with an LTIFR of 5.44, below the Ontario benchmark. Great Noligwa, with an LTIFR of 7.43, has improved significantly.
South African safety statistics
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| Type of injury | Lost time | Reportable | Fatal | ||||||
| 2000 | 1999 | % change | 2000 | 1999 | % change | 2000 | 1999 | % change | |
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| Number of injuries | 2,482 | 3,088 | -20 | 1,429 | 1,787 | -20 | 49 | 74 | -35 |
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| Frequency rate per million | |||||||||
| hours worked | 11.98 | 14.35 | -16 | 6.90 | 8.31 | -16 | 0.23 | 0.34 | -29 |
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Occupational health
Occupational health services were provided to AngloGold employees at three fully equipped occupational health centres, each staffed by an occupational medical practitioner, professional nurses, audiologists and other support staff.
During 2000, 13,006 initial, 68,215 periodical and 14,007 exit medical examinations were performed.
Although occupational lung diseases (OLD) and noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) remain challenges, 2000 saw a heartening reduction in new cases certified. 1,986 cases of OLD (2,682 per 100,000 employees) were certified by the Medical Bureau for Occupational Diseases in 2000. This is an improvement on the 1999 figure of 2,585 new cases (3,093 per 100,000). Some 1,451 employees (1,960 per 100,000 ) were compensated for NIHL in 2000 which is a significant improvement on the 1,873 new cases recorded in 1999 (2,603 per 100,000), bearing testimony to the increasing effectiveness of the hearing conservation programme.
Aurum Health Research, a subsidiary of AngloGold Health Service, continued to provide input into refining the prevention, detection and treatment aspects of OLD.
A particular highlight has been the implementation of a process which will ensure the fair and effective management of employees unable to continue in their current occupations as a consequence of ill health. Some 1,115 cases were considered in terms of the process with 348 employees being transferred into other substantive occupations within AngloGold. Retraining of the remainder will assist in their finding employment outside of the mining industry.
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South America
Cerro Vanguardia mine achieved a four-star rating by NOSA during the last quarter of the year. The mine's laboratory activities received an ISO 9002 rating. The LTIFR for Cerro Vanguardia Mine improved dramatically year-on-year from 17.88 to 5.35.
At both Serra Grande and Morro Velho mines progress has been made in the implementation of the NOSA safety system and a target of a four-star grading has been set for the end of 2001.
The previous negative trend at Serra Grande for LTIFR was reversed as the mine reduced its rate from 5.64 to 4.34, an improvement of 23 per cent, and well below the Ontario benchmark.
The LTIFR rate at Morro Velho mine deteriorated to 9.61 mainly due to the inclusion of contractor injuries not previously included in reports. In December the mine experienced its first fatal accident in four years. Safety performance is expected to improve during the year ahead.
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