Health and safety
Kenmare is committed to conduct its business without risk to the health and safety of its employees, contractors and the general public. Kenmare applies a strategy of zero tolerance with the objective of zero fatalities or major injuries.
Zero tolerance means that:- no one observes an unsafe situation without taking appropriate action;
- no one observes someone behaving in an unsafe manner without requiring the individual to stop;
- no one allows a colleague to work in unsafe conditions; and
- health and safety is everyone’s responsibility.
Senior managers are responsible for ensuring that appropriate organisational arrangements and resources are made available for the fulfilment of this policy and for monitoring its implementation and effectiveness.
Kenmare's health and safety objectives are to:
- meet, and where possible exceed, all applicable legal requirements and standards for health, safety and welfare of employees;
- demonstrate visible commitment by all line managers showing positive leadership in all matters relating to health and safety;
- seek to eliminate at-risk behaviour;
- achieve and maintain healthy and safe work conditions;
- provide adequate welfare facilities for our employees;
- carry out appropriate health screening of employees;
- provide effective instruction, training and supervision for all employees;
- identify hazards, assess risks and eliminate these where practicable;
- involve employees at all levels by establishing local health and safety committees;
- provide and maintain safe plant and equipment;
- regularly review and, as necessary, revise Group policy and guidance notes; and
- ensure that all contractors and consultants adhere to site procedures.
Health and safety
In 2023, Kenmare’s LTIFR increased to 0.15 following two years of industry-leading performance. This was a 25% increase relative to the Company’s three-year rolling average. While none of the Lost Time Injuries (LTIs) sustained were serious or life threatening, they pointed to insufficient focus being placed on risk management by leaders. To address this, the site management team recommitted themselves to showing authentic and courageous leadership of health and safety, with a strict focus on planning and increasing the time dedicated to on-site training and coaching.
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hours worked (employees + contractors) | 5,085,263 | 7,334,804 | 6,959,858 | 6,806,586 | 6,599,498 |
| Lost time injuries (LTIs) | 7 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Fatalities | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Medical treatment injuries (MTIs) | 6 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 9 |
| First aid injuries (FAIs) | 51 | 38 | 51 | 31 | 27 |
| All injuries (AIs) | 64 | 59 | 62 | 38 | 41 |
| Total recordable injuries | 13 | 21 | 11 | 7 | 14 |
| Days lost to injuries | 246 | 780 | 473 | 356 | 561 |
| All injury frequency rate (AIFR) per 200,000 hours | 2.52 | 1.61 | 1.78 | 1.12 | 1.24 |
| All injury frequency rate (AIFR) per 1 million hours | 12.59 | 8.04 | 8.91 | 5.58 | 6.21 |
| LTI frequency rate (LTIFR) per 200,000 hours | 0.28 | 0.25 | 0.03 | 0.09 | 0.15 |
| LTI frequency rate (LTIFR) per 1 million hours | 1.38 | 1.23 | 0.14 | 0.44 | 0.76 |
| Total Recordable Injury frequency rate per 1 million hours worked | 2.56 | 2.86 | 1.58 | 1.03 | 2.12 |
In addition to keeping our employees safe, we also encourage and support a healthy workforce, considering prevalent local health issues. All mine employees are provided with appropriate personal protective equipment and we implement employee health and wellbeing programmes on topics such as HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention. We also provide access to primary medical care and we build partnerships with external health service providers to strengthen our health systems. Kenmare runs a health education programme, called THRIVE, aimed at the prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases and raising awareness about the importance of maintaining healthy lifestyles.
During 2022, Kenmare sponsored educational workshops where external experts helped staff and contractors build their understanding of chronic diseases and looking after their physical health and mental wellbeing.
The occupational health centre operates on site on a 24-hour basis. The professional staff assess and treat any injury that occurs on site and are equipped to respond to any medical emergency situation that may arise. Annual medical examinations are carried out on all Kenmare employees. These are conducted by the Occupational Practitioner situated on site. No cases of occupational diseases were identified since operation of the Moma Titanium Minerals Mine commenced in 2007. In addition to occupational health management, the clinic also assesses and treats malaria cases amongst employees and contractors on site.
Kenmare is committed to seeking and supporting the most effective prevention methods that will reduce the risk to our workforce and host communities. The overall incidence rate of malaria amongst our workforce increased in 2022, with 1,540 cases throughout the year, compared to a five-year average of 1,290. The number of workdays lost to malaria cases was 4,620, which compared to the five-year average of 3,880. The cause of this is believed to be related to supply constraints on chemical spraying and a long wet season bringing large volumes of standing water.
Malaria management programmes implemented on-site targeted bite prevention and vector control through indoor residual spraying and larvae control and were complemented by awareness and education campaigns. A community-agreed programme to spray the inside of every house led to a small reduction in malaria cases within the wider community.
Kenmare intended to conduct a malaria study in partnership with a research partner in 2022. The partnership did not progress and an alternative Mozambican partner was identified, therefore this programme was postponed to 2023. The study will develop new tools to strengthen malaria vector control and management programmes. Kenmare is committed to seeking and supporting the most effective prevention methods that will reduce the risk to our workforce and host communities.
