Policy on Safety, Health and the Environment
"The aim of thisgroup is, and will remain, to make profits for our shareholders, but to do itin such a way as to make a real and lasting contribution to the communities inwhich we operate."
Anglo American founder, Sir Ernest Oppenheimer
It is our objective to provide superior returns for our shareholders in asocially and environmentally responsible manner.
Anglo American, our divisions and companies, will uphold the values of goodcorporate citizenship and seek to contribute to wider economic, social andenvironmental well-being in all the countries where we do business.
In the spirit of Sir Ernest Oppenheimer's statement, we are committed to theprinciples of sustainable development - which we take to mean "developmentthat meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of futuregenerations to meet their own needs"[1]- because we believe it is fundamental to our long-term success. We recognisethat the full implications of sustainable development are still being exploredby society and we will be part of that process by pursuing practical ways ofrealising the concept.
This policy addresses the core challenges of safety, health and the environmentthat we face as a global business.
Aims
In order to give practical expression to our vision and tomeasure our progress, we have the following aims:
Safety and Health
Prevent or minimise work-related injuries and healthimpairment of employees and contractors;
Contribute to addressing priority community healthissues.
Conserve environmental resources;
Prevent or minimise adverse impacts arising from ouroperations;
Demonstrate active stewardship of land andbiodiversity;
Promote good relationships with, and enhance capacitiesof, the local communities of which we are a part;
Respect people's culture and heritage.
Management principles
All our divisions and companies are required to adhere to the followingprinciples in a systematic and comprehensive fashion, and actively encourageimplementation by business partners:
1. Commitment:Hold senior executives and line management within each division and companyaccountable for safety, occupational health and environmental issues. Allocateadequate financial and human resources to ensure that these issues are dealtwith in a manner that reflects their high corporate priority.
2. Competence:Ensure workforce competence and responsibility at all levels through selection,retention, education, training and awareness in all aspects of safety, healthand the environment.
3. RiskAssessment: Identify, assess and prioritise the hazards and risksassociated with all our activities.
4. Preventionand control: Prevent, minimise or control priority risks throughplanning, design, investment, management and workplace procedures. Prepare andperiodically test emergency response plans. Where accidents or incidents dooccur, take prompt corrective action, investigate root causes and take remedialaction. Actively seek to prevent recurrences and disseminate experienceslearned.
5. Performance:Set appropriate goals, objectives, targets and performance indicators for allour operations. Meet all applicable laws and regulations as a minimum and,where appropriate, apply international best practice.
6. Evaluation:Monitor, review and confirm the effectiveness of management and workplaceperformance against divisional and company standards, objectives, targets andapplicable legal requirements. Key to this process is a system of appropriateaudits and progress reports to divisional management couples with regularreport to the board of directors.
7. Stakeholderengagement: Promote and maintain open and constructive dialogue andgood working relationships with employees, local communities, regulatoryagencies, business organisations and other affected and interested parties, toincrease knowledge and enhance mutual understanding in matters of commonconcern. Report on progress towards the achievement of our aims.
8. Continualimprovement: Foster creativity and innovation in the management andperformance of our businesses, and our approach to solving the challengesfacing our enterprises. Support research and development into safety, healthand environmental issues, and promote the implementation of international bestpractices and technologies where appropriate.
This policy will be reviewed regularly to reflect ourcommitment to, and growing understanding of, the principles of sustainabledevelopment.
Tony Trahar
Chief Executive Officer