Letšeng donates a full-year supply of sanitary towels to Thamae Primary School girls
26/04/2023
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The Health and Safety Department adopted the IRCA system as a blueprint for health and safety in the Mine. The most used elements in the system are:
Planning and Leadership
This is where sections, departments and EXCO hold health and safety meetings. The department reviews the management of all health and safety programmes. For the reason that employees’ involvement is critical, employees’ representatives are chosen and serve as links between employees and management on all health and safety issues that affect them. The Behaviour Based Care (BBC) programme ensures safety, facilitates Visibly Felt Leadership (VFL), employee PACT reinforcement and monitoring.
Competency, Training and Communications
It states that all people are expected to undergo induction training, including site-specific inductions, in order to have adequate skills when performing their jobs.
Management of Operational Risk and Change
It caters for risk assessment, up-to-date baseline risk assessment, continuous risk assessment and task-based risk assessment. All these assessments are compiled into a mine-wide risk profile. They are also used for developing standard operating procedures for risky conditions. They are further used for planned task observation to ensure that employees understand the standards of working procedures. They also help in the management of change because any change might have positive or negative consequences, thereby ensuring that all the negative consequences are addressed.
Work Rules and Operating Permits
These ensure adherence to safety rules, risk operations and acquiring of permits for certain jobs such as excavation. The permit is required to ensure that workers are not exposed to dangers such as power cables.
Inspections and Asset Maintenance
These ensure that all assets and moving machinery adhere to inspection protocols. Transport issues are addressed, putting safety as a priority. The moving equipment is kept in good condition and statutory inspections are carried out.
Occupational Health Systems
These ensure that all Letšeng Diamonds employees undergo pre-employment medical examinations, periodic medicals and medicals upon leaving the company. The purpose is to assess the onset of occupational diseases so as to reduce the risks and monitor appropriateness and sustainability.
Incident/Non-Conformity Reporting and Investigation
These are reactive measures taken by the department after an incident has occurred. After the incident has been reported, investigations are carried out to establish the root causes and system failures. The purpose is to minimise the risks and also to keep records and trends.
Emergency Preparedness
The department is able to minimise risk because it attends to a large number of emergencies. The department has an emergency preparedness plan, which outlines how to react in emergencies and address people in a crisis.
Measurement, Monitoring and Audits
This helps check how the IRCA system is running. Internal and external audits are conducted to assess the system’s effectiveness and continually improve the system.
Corrective and Preventive Action Systems
Through inspections and investigations, all non-conformance actions are corrected. The corrective measures are put in place to prevent injuries and property damage.