JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South African miner Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) stopped production at all its operations on Thursday to kick off a safety campaign and to remember employees who have died this year.

The day will mark the start of a wide-reaching employee safety programme, ‘Real Safety Begins with Me’, with Anglo American chief executive Cynthia Carroll and Amplats CEO Neville Nicolau addressing Amplats employees at venues in Limpopo and the North West province.

Amplats said that while there has been a notable improvement in the safety performance over the past four years, it remained concerned about the number of fatalities this year. To date, 12 employees have lost their lives at Amplats-managed operations.

Carroll said in a statement that she was saddened by the unacceptable loss of lives in operations.

“Zero harm is achievable, I plead with all of our employees to rigorously maintain our relentless focus on safety. I am not prepared to accept that we cannot achieve zero harm and I expect all employees to play their part,” she said.

Nicolau said that visible felt leadership and employee engagement were critical components of the company’s safety programme.

As a gesture of solidarity, all Anglo American operations globally will observe a minute of silence in remembrance of colleagues who have lost their lives.

The safety programme aims to help employees take shared responsibility for their own safety and that of their colleagues, and further provide employees with skills, tools and support.
 

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