African Mining | Página 23

HEALTH AND SAFETY •

The solid safety requirements plan In 2008 the industry constructed a five-pillar plan to pursue the goal of Zero Harm , and Exxaro has followed this ever since . Matjila believes that it is this consistent and solid plan that has built and entrenched a safety culture Exxaro can depend on . “ The one area that was identified as core to reaching this target was ‘ incredible leadership ,’ that is leadership with their hearts in the right place , and a focus on safety . The second focus has been training and Exxaro has made sure that people are competent in the work that they ' re doing . It is vital to enable our employees to identify risks and manage them appropriately with an understanding of the risk mitigation measures that we have put in place for this inherently dangerous environment of mining . The third pillar involves a Health and Wellness Strategy which underpins robust “ fatigue management ”, where the capability to diagnose issues in a preventative manner and an ability to manage health and wellness consistently is key . It is important that our employees know the signs of fatigue and manage these accordingly . The fourth pillar involves communication . A consistent corporate communications plan is run every year to religiously support our safety drive . The fifth pillar is consequence management and a zero tolerance to unsafe behaviour . An example of a zero-tolerance area is working under an unsupported roof in underground mining where Fall of Ground is a possibility – this is a no-go area .”

By the same token , if there is an incident and an injury occurs , there is a stringent incident reporting process that takes place and the General Manager of the mine makes sure that this is fully investigated , and most importantly measures are then taken to ensure that there are no repeats .

Safety is a choice The secret of success , however , Matjila believes , is the fact that Exxaro has built and sustained a broad culture of safety in which every employee takes accountability for the safety and the wellbeing of themselves and their colleagues . The Zero Harm initiative started in 2008 led to the launch of Exxaro ’ s Khetha Ukuphepa campaign , which was launched in 2019 , which encompasses this culture of safety he speaks of .

The Khetha Ukuphepa campaign falls within the communication pillar , says Matjila . It is a Zulu phrase which is translated as ‘ Choose to be Safe .’ “ This is a company slogan crafted to empower our employees to take ownership of their environment and to consciously choose to work safely . It is a slogan that reminds all of us that it is the individual ’ s responsibility to work safely and take accountability for one ’ s actions every minute of every day , with every decision taken .”

Industry Best Practices Dr Matjila highlights that over and above the company drive for safety , Exxaro is a Minerals Council South Africa member , and has been very involved in the industry collaboration with regards to advocating best practices for mining in the industry to assist in avoiding dangerous situations . He mentions that Exxaro was in fact used as an example in best practices when it came to exemplifying bolting and netting in underground mines to prevent FOG . He also emphasises that the company has been rolling out the implementation of proximity detection systems across its operations for the past three years in the Trackless Mining Machinery ( TMM ) space . In his view these best practices , and more , have indeed assisted in achieving their goals of Zero Harm .

Exxaro makes it clear , as an industrial activity , mining is often hazardous and is viewed as a high-risk environment despite the implementation of comprehensive safety management systems . Fatalities and potential fatalities continue to occur in the industry for this reason , but this does not mean mining cannot be conducted as safely as possible . With effective risk management , accidents are preventable .

“ We are committed to reducing the risks associated with mining activity and our vision is to become one of the country ’ s safest companies to work for . We will continue to subscribe to national and global standards and investigate innovative new strategies to help our staff live safer and fuller lives at work and beyond ,” Matjila concludes . •

Exxaro has built and sustained a broad culture of safety in which every employee takes accountability for the safety and wellbeing of themselves and their colleagues .