Day-to-day management responsibility for health and safety matters rests with the senior management at each of our sites. They are supported by around 290 health and safety professionals that are specifically employed for this purpose around the Group.
OHSAS 18001 certification
All operational sites in India and Zambia have OHSAS 18001 certification.
Health and safety audits
Regular internal audits are performed on our health and safety systems at each of our sites. All of our operating locations are required to implement safety programmes to address any identified areas of risk during the conduct of these audits. Typical areas of examination include levels of investment in operational integrity and ensuring that appropriate resources, training and operational systems are in place.
External audits are conducted on our health and safety systems and performance where our management and health and safety professionals deem that such an exercise would be beneficial. Audit recommendations are discussed in HSE committee meetings at unit and company level and implementation ensured.
Safety risk assessment and disaster management plans are integral to all our expansions and new projects.
Training
Addressing cultural attitudes to health and safety matters within the parts of world in which we operate can present considerable challenges. We focus on awareness and prevention. Our training systems are well-established and cover all our locations. Safety training is compulsory for all contractors and employees. Regular refresher courses are conducted by reputed agencies like the National Safety Council for existing employees. Modules include introductory levels and specialised safety courses aimed at addressing particular aspects of our activities. Over 66,000 man-days of training were conducted during the year ending 31 March 2008.
Internal reporting
Our health and safety systems include reporting mechanisms to ensure that information applying the appropriate industry key performance indicators is monitored regularly by our senior management at unit and group level and action taken where required.
Occupational health
The health of our employees is monitored through the conduct of periodic medical examinations. During the year ending 31 March 2008, more than 55,000 examinations were conducted.
Our focus is to contain the exposure to dusts containing heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and arsenic, gaseous emissions such as sulphur dioxide and fluorides, and other physical conditions, such as high noise levels in certain activities and heat stress.
Occupational experts have been employed at all our mines and smelters to ensure regular examinations of all employees, contractors and workplaces. Initial and periodic medical examinations are carried out which fulfill regulatory requirements and also include a variety of other procedures (for example, chest X-rays, hearing and sight examinations and tests for evidence in the blood of lead and cadmium).
Detailed information concerning our systems and performance can be found in our latest Sustainable Development Report and within the Case Studies section of this website.