Governance, assurance and accountability
Accountability for safety performance rests with management and follows reporting lines to the highest levels of the organisation. We include safety risks in our risk management framework to reinforce the fact that safety management is part of our managers’ and executives’ day-to-day responsibilities. Safety risks are included in the risk registers compiled and regularly updated at Group, commodity business and operational levels.
Our formal management structure documents responsibility for safety from the Board through to each individual employee and contractor. Safety performance also forms a significant component of variable remuneration, such as bonuses, and is a key consideration in the career development and progression of employees.
Our directors hold governance responsibility for safety performance through the Board Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) Committee. Both the Group Executive Committee and Board HSEC Committee receive monthly management reports that describe all actual and high potential incidents related to safety performance. If a fatality occurs, the chief executive of the commodity business responsible makes a detailed presentation of their findings to the Executive Committee and to the Board HSEC Committee.
In addition to our site-level, third party Sustainable Development (SD) Standards audits, we also engage specialists to conduct in-depth audits targeting specific SD risks at our sites and projects. As part of their management plans (which are reviewed at least annually), our operations conduct numerous other audits and reviews to provide assurance that safety risks are being properly identified and managed and that existing safety management systems and processes are adhered to and are effective. These include:
- legislative safety compliance audits
- major hazard audits
- specialist audits (such as electrical safety)
- inspections
- employee safety meetings
- external verifications (to OHSAS 18001, for example)
- performance reporting and reviews
