Reference no: EM132885104

Employee Health and Wellbeing at the De Beers Group

At the De Beers Group we take a holistic approach to health and wellbeing, with a mission to protect and care for our people and our host communities. We're committed to achieving zero harm in our workplaces. That means we go further than just making sure our operations are safe places to work - we actively care for the health and wellbeing of our people and our surrounding communities.

Protecting Our People

Noise-induced hearing loss, musculoskeletal disease, exposure to respirable hazards, and HIV/AIDS are our top health risks. We protect our people by managing these risks through a number of programmes that cover hearing conservation, respiratory protection, musculoskeletal protection and fatigue management.

Our approach to occupational health is guided by the Anglo American SHE (Safety, Health, Environment) Way, as well as our Group Occupational Health Policy and associated technical standards. In addition, our occupational health risks are reviewed annually as part of our Operational Risk Management process.

Managing HIV/AIDS

The threat of HIV/AIDS is an everyday fact of life for our employees and people living in the communities around our operations in southern Africa. We launched our first HIV/AIDS initiative in Debswana in 2001 when prevalence rates of HIV were high. Today, we still go beyond compliance with an advanced programme built on four pillars: prevention, treatment, care and support.

One tool we use to drive down the rate of HIV/AIDS infection is the World Health Organization's 90-90-90 'Know your Status' campaign. This means we aim for:

• 90% of our employees to be aware of their status
• 90% of HIV-positive individuals to be on a treatment plan
• 90% of those on a plan to be achieving viral suppression.

Today, a total of 89% of our employees in southern Africa know their HIV status, 93.5% of employees diagnosed with an HIV infection are receiving sustained anti-retroviral therapy, and 91% of employees receiving this treatment are successfully suppressing the virus, reducing the risk of transmission.

Our successful focus on prevention means we are now celebrating 10 years of HIV positive mothers giving birth to HIV negative babies. In South Africa, more than 450 HIV positive mothers have given birth to HIV negative babies.

Our HIV/AIDS programme is also contributing to the fight against tuberculosis (TB). We have now cut incidences of TB in our workforce to fewer than 100 per 100,000 people in southern Africa, a region that generally reports between 500 and 800 cases per 100,000 people.

But the battle is not yet won. And we're committed to continuing our important work to improve and protect the lives of our people.

Caring for the Community

Our approach to health and wellness goes beyond the mine gates. As well as running wellness campaigns and programmes in the local community, we also own and manage hospitals near our Jwaneng and Orapa mines in Botswana, and near our former Oranjemund mine in Namibia, which local communities have access to.

Our Holistic Approach

We take a holistic approach that gives us a broad view of the link between safety and good health - both mental and physical. We aim to help people take better care of their health and recognise when they need support.

Our research shows that, beyond the physical, a range of health issues - including fatigue, depression, anxiety, financial worries or difficulties at home - can affect employee performance and decision-making. To address these issues and create a more open workplace, we've created our new Total Worker Health programme. The programme aims to minimise inherent health risks in our work environment, for example risks from traffic, noise, radiation and dust. It also seeks to help employees manage other personal and psychological issues - for example, someone who is struggling to concentrate at work because he or she is having trouble sleeping at night.

How We're Doing

During 2018, absenteeism because of ill-health increased slightly on the previous year to 2.5%, and the proportion of the workforce exposed to occupational health hazards above the occupational exposure limit was similar to the previous year, at 20%.

The biggest occupational health issue at our mining operations is noise. Regrettably, in 2018 there were two reported cases of noise-induced hearing loss. Overall, however, there was a decrease in the number of employees exposed to noise, and we continue to take steps to reduce this risk.

There was also a significant decrease in the number of employees exposed to inhalable hazards that can be a cause of cancer, with zero employees exposed to this risk. However, the numbers exposed to respirable dust increased.

Rates of voluntary counselling and testing were very close to our target, at 89% against a target of 90%.

Question

Discuss the extent to which the De Beers Group is effectively managing HIV / AIDS in the workplace.