Sustainability / Our approach / Assurance programme
Assurance programme
All of the Group’s operations and projects have undergone audits against our 17 SD Standards. The focus of the SD assurance programme is to achieve continuous improvement and a more detailed focus on specific SD risks.
The revised 2010 SD assurance programme will require each managed operation to undergo a third party SD Standards audit every three years. Following the audits in 2008 and 2009, a comprehensive SD Improvement Plan will be produced in 2010, reflecting the findings of the audits and detailing the actions required to implement and maintain the SD Framework. Each commodity business will monitor the progress of each operation’s SD Improvement Plan and will independently review the SD Improvement Plans annually. A consolidated progress report will be submitted annually to the commodity businesses’ Audit Committee as well as the Board Audit and HSEC Committees.
SD risk audits
Xstrata’s SD risk audits involve a detailed examination of commodity business risks.
To improve our SD auditing efficiency and business integration of SD, Xstrata’s SD risk audits have been incorporated into the Group’s annual internal audits. The Group’s internal audit function reports to the Board Audit Committee and their audit teams will be supplemented with appropriate SD specialists to support this revised process. Internal audit will audit a number of SD risks across the Group in 2010 based on a review of each commodity business’s risk register. The SD risks chosen are also reviewed by the Group GM Sustainable Development.
During 2009, SD risk audits were piloted at six Xstrata Coal operations. The following SD risks were assessed:
- Planning and approvals;
- Change management;
- Mobile equipment interaction;
- Strata management;
- Open cut interface with underground workings;
- Maintenance;
- Water management;
- Dam structures;Mine closure;
- Life of mine and rehabilitation planning; and
- Contractor management.
Out of a possible top score of five, four sites achieved a score of three, which indicates that these sites have a comprehensive risk management system in place. The remaining two sites achieved scores of two, indicating that although these sites are using risk management techniques and procedures, a comprehensive risk management system is not in place. Corrective action plans have been developed to address the issues found during these audits.
2009 SD assurance programme scores
During 2009, all of the Group’s operations, including projects, were subject to audits against Xstrata’s SD Standards. The audits covered all 17 SD Standards for established operations and all applicable SD Standards for closing sites or project sites. This involved 24 third party audits and 50
self-managed audits. A third party audit is completed in five days, in contrast, the self-managed audits are performed over an extended period throughout the year. Generally, self-managed audits produce lower audit scores as additional time is available to complete more comprehensive testing and internal auditors are often more conservative in their scoring. During 2009, the average audit scores were around 1-2% lower than in 2008, reflecting the higher proportion of self-managed audits completed.
