Gold-miner AngloGold Ashanti lost eight of its miners – six in South Africa and one each in Namibia and Ghana – during the quarter to the end of June.

This safety performance is a cause for concern and AngloGold Ashanti’s man- agement has intensified efforts to improve overall safety across its operations.

The fatalities took place at the company’s Moab Khotsong, Kopanang, Tau Lekoa and Savuka mines (all in South Africa) and at the Navachab and Obuasi mines, in Namibia and Ghana respectively.
AngloGold Ashanti CEO Mark Cutifani acknowledges that it has been a tough quarter for the company with regard to safety.

“It is clear that, while we still have a long way to go to eliminate fatalities from our workplaces, encouragingly, in the last couple of months we have been fatality free.

“Our recent experi- ence with fatal injuries is a sobering reminder of how close we continue to operate to where isolated incidences can result in tragic consequences,” Cutifani comments.

The company has taken strong action to improve conditions across the company’s operations, particularly those in the Vaal river region.

He notes that the findings of the Safety Strategic Blueprint have been reviewed and key areas for improvement identified. “Detailed execution plans are being drafted, with implementation scheduled for the first quarter of next year.

“AngloGold Ashanti’s safety transfor- mation project is the next step in changing the company’s safety performance, and includes additional measures and work practices in managing fatal risks.

“In the interim, management’s efforts are focused on tackling specific problem areas with teams that continue to expe- rience high levels of accidents, in order to effect rapid change in the near term,” he comments.

The company’s South African operations have put in place a number of rapid inter- ventions to continue to improve awareness and compliance.

He points out that the effects of ongoing safety interventions over the past seven quarters are evidenced by the improve- ment in the lost-time injury frequency rate, which was 19% lower during the period at 5,68 for each million hours worked. “That is the best performance on record.”

In addition, the medical treatment fre- quency rate was reduced by 8%, to 18,84%, in the second quarter. “Still, there remains important work to be done in creating an injury-free environ- ment for all employees.

“In analysing the underlining data, our incident and other injury statistics are all tracking down, which is good news.

“This supports the view that we are making progress on safety and awareness, but we are still not on top of our fatal-risk- management routines, which is where the company’s critical focus area remains,” Cutifani concludes.

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