Harmony Gold Improves Fatality Rate
September 3rd, 2008South Africa. “Last year’s positive Safety performance was maintained in the 2008 financial year and there was a remarkable 18,2% improvement in the fatal-injury frequency rate (FIFR) on our mines for 2008,” Harmony Gold CEO Graham Briggs said at the company’s June-quarter and 2008 financial year-end results presentation.
He added that an incident at the company’s Elandsrand mine last October brought the South African mining industry’s safety under the spotlight, triggering a heightened sense of corporate awareness of Occupational Safety and Health.
“Management remains committed to zero fatalities and every effort is being made to achieve this objective. “Safety is a priority among all operational teams and many hours are being dedicated to Safety leadership and awareness.”
Safety audits had been intensified and an audit completed at the end of June this year showed an improvement in the FIFR, of 0,15, compared with 0,35 for the March quarter.
Four employees lost their lives at Harmony’s operations during the June quarter as a result of work-related accidents.
During the year under review, Harmony recorded general Safety achievements, among them three years of fatality-free shifts.
The Evander and Tshepong mines both attained 500 000 fatality-free shifts and Virginia, comprising Merriespruit, Unisel and Brand, achieved one-million fatality-free shifts.
Source: Mining Weekly
By: Dennis Ndaba
Published: 22nd August 2008
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