Safety

Zero harm remains Exxaro’s key safety objective. The group recorded a lost time injury frequency rate (2020: 0.05) Target: less than 0.08. We remain confident that we will continue to improve on this through our ‘Khetha Ukuphepha’ safety campaign, which we launched in November 2019.

We review our safety target every year, based on prior performance, and apply stringent management protocols, programmes, and systems. Our BU management teams investigate every safety incident occurrence and, in terms of LTI and a skilled committee headed by an independent chairperson, investigate fatalities and HPIs. Exxaro reports investigation findings to the Executive Committee as well as the Sustainability, Risk and Compliance Committee, and escalates these to our Board.

The industry target of zero fatalities is reflected in Exxaro’s commitment to ‘Khetha Ukuphepha, which means Choose safety' campaign.

As of 05 August 2022, the company has achieved five years and five months fatality free across its operations.

Powering Khetha Ukuphepha

In 2021, Exxaro celebrated four years without a fatality across our mining operations, a remarkable milestone and one that highlights the importance of our continued and collective safety efforts. Safety is an ongoing factor for us as a business, and our commitment to achieve zero harm is embodied in our ‘Khetha Ukuphepha’ (which means ‘Choose safety’) campaign. The campaign was designed to ensure every employee keeps safety and individual responsibility front and centre. It promotes adherence to our strict safety standards and ensures we all return home each day unharmed.

“We believe that zero harm is possible. We cannot sell coal associated with injuries and loss of life. That’s not our business. Four years without any fatalities marks a great milestone for our company and the future of the South African mining industry. The leadership and strategic initiatives to improve safety regulations have ensured that all our employees can work in an environment they can trust, and that they can return home to their loved ones unharmed,” said Dr Joseph Matjila, Group Manager: Safety and Health.

Powering Khetha Ukuphepha

Mining Safety Innovation

Planning early for mine closure is critical to protect the future of the environment and society, and to uplift the surrounding communities. That’s why we prioritise closure planning and mining rehabilitation, ensuring we tick all the boxes before, during, and after the operating life of a mine.

Health and Wellness

Our health and wellness strategy, approved by our Executive Committee and Board in November 2019, aims to:

  • Shift our healthcare approach from curative and employer-driven to preventive and employee-driven efforts
  • Align our health and wellness portfolios for a holistic and integrated management programme
  • Identify occupational and non-occupational health risks and their causes, solutions to mitigate these risks, impacts of the risks on the business, and the best approach to ensure an environment that empowers employees to manage and protect their health

We need seamless integration of health and wellness management with clearly defined employer and employee responsibilities for our strategy to deliver a comprehensive health solution.

Our integrated health and wellness strategy is supported by three pillars that ensure a cohesive approach to occupational and lifestyle diseases throughout our operations:

Diagnose
  • Improve medical surveillance by extending clinical tests (heart disease and risk-based cancer screening) and ensure our employees receive once-off DNA analysis assessments. The diagnosis was recently extended to include COVID-19 screenings.
Manage
  • Improve healthcare management by ensuring all employees with health risks (occupational and non-occupational) are included in a disease management programme.
Prevent
  • Improve preventive programmes with mandatory comprehensive wellness awareness campaigns and healthy lifestyle coaching (integrated with a certificate of fitness).
  • Advance diagnostic programmes with integrated health and wellness solutions. Wellness management is moving beyond services currently offered (general and psychosocial counselling) to healthy lifestyle coaching, with physical and mental health management in a single certificate of fitness awarded after routine tests.