Health and Safety – Our Commitment
Creating a safe work environment is the most important aspect of the commitment and pledge we make to each and every employee. Yamana has rigorous procedures in place to manage health and safety protocols and continues to make investments to enhance safety at all operations. We strive to go beyond compliance and ensure the prevention of accidents at our sites through the implementation of best practices in health and safety management.
Yamana’s safety programs include:
Safety Interactions (Safety Behavior Audits) - In effect since 2006, safety interactions encourage management to approach employees to reinforce safety measures. The objective is to gain each employee’s commitment to conduct all operating activities safely.
Daily Safety Dialogue (DDS) - Prior to the start of a day’s work, DDS’s are conducted at all operations and cover specific issues related to safety, health and environmental guidelines.
Registration of Safety Occurrence (ROS) - Started in 2007, the program requires employees at all operations to register potentially dangerous situations with management. Each report is reviewed and solutions are implemented to avoid any safety issues.
PEACE - Which stands for Think, Study, Analyze, Fine-Tune and Execute in Portuguese, is a safety program that enables each employee to analyze a task in order to execute it safely. This program reinforces the five key actions employees should take when assessing a potential risky situation.
The overall health and safety of our employees is vital to our success and we prudently devote resources to effect improvements in this regard. In 2008, we focused on upgrading safety systems at many of our newly acquired mines and we will continue to enhance these systems across all operations in 2009. Enhancements included the addition of new safety equipment, newly formed safety teams, and the construction of safe rooms to improve features at each underground operation. Vaccination programs and health campaigns helped to prevent occupational illnesses and training programs and inspections were conducted to further improve safety.
Yamana reports all injuries classified as lost time, first aid, restricted work and medical treatment and strives to meet a zero accident target. Yamana has created a safety statistic monitoring system to showcase safety performance and is continually working on lowering the Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) at each mine. An investigation into every accident, incident and related infringement is conducted and appropriate training, education of risks and frequent assessments at each operation are some of the ingredients that make our safety and health systems successful.
Yamana is making a substantial effort to continue implementing all of the occupational health and safety standards of the SYG. Implementation began in March 2007 at five of Yamana’s operations in Brazil and Honduras.
In 2008, various safety training courses were implemented to support this goal. Yamana offers equal training to employees, contractors and all others involved in the operation of each mine. Each person receives a mandatory 24 or 30 hour introductory training course, depending on the type of mine operation, in addition to ongoing job specific training. At each mine an annual training program must be completed and management inspections and safety interaction (behavioral audits) are performed constantly to identify possible risks and deviations. For this purpose, each of our mining operations has an established Safety, Health, Environment and Community (SHEC) Committee which is chaired by the General Manager. These committees meet at least once a month to discuss the challenges and solutions related to safety, health, environment, community relations and other operational practices. The goal of each SHEC Committee is to measure the effectiveness and performance of our sustainability programs.
At Yamana, health and safety is the responsibility of everyone and is not considered an obligation but a way of life. As we focus on our goals for the future, we have set in place year-over-year targets to consistently and proactively implement programs and measures to reduce accidents and injuries. With the establishment of the SHEC Committee we demonstrate our ongoing commitment to achieving these goals and continue to make every effort to meet and exceed health and occupational safety standards within our industry.
In 2008, 40 of Yamana’s SHEC representatives met in Chile for a three day workshop to discuss various topics of importance including aligning SHEC practices, consolidation of SYG and the integration of best safety practices at all operations. The next meeting will be held in 2009.
The Safety, Health and Environmental Principles of Yamana
- To continuously employ in our activities and products, environmental advancements that reduce pollution and health and safety risks while adhering to applicable environmental, health and safety laws and legislation.
- To prioritize the development of more efficient, safer and pollution-minimizing technology, and adopt technology that improves processes, products and the services of suppliers and contractors so as to maximize environmental protection.
- To train, educate and motivate employees and contractors to execute their tasks and duties in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.
- To foster a healthy and safe working environment as the responsibility of all employees.
- To establish and review environmental, health and safety objectives and goals, and to work and consult with stakeholders and communities to ensure we are meeting those objectives.
- To make recommendations to our suppliers and contractors in the management of environmental, health and safety policies, and sustainability with the consideration and input of stakeholders.
- To build and operate facilities according to applicable international standards for environmental management and compliance.