The health, safety & environment (HSE) committee operates under an approved charter, assisting the Board to fulfil its corporate governance and supervision responsibilities relating to the integration of sound HSE management into all aspects of the Group’s business activities.

The committee reviews operational performance in health, safety & environment and provides strategic guidance to management and the Board. It also evaluates the appropriateness and adequacy of policies and strategies against global best practice.

Membership

The committee consists of four non-executive directors and the group chief executive and is chaired by ADVC Knott- Craig, an independent non-executive director. During the year under review, independent members RC Andersen, NM Magau and JM McMahon served on the committee.

Subsequent to the year end, WA Nairn was appointed a member of the committee.

The group executive directors, executives responsible for enterprise capability and health and safety attend meetings by invitation. The committee met five times during the year under review.

Terms of reference

The committee’s responsibilities include:

reviewing and monitoring the framework, strategy, policies and standards for HSE management
monitoring substantive national and international regulatory and technical developments and practice in HSE management
reviewing compliance by the company, its contractors and associates with policy, guidelines and appropriate local and international standards and relevant local laws in HSE matters
monitoring effective risk assessment processes, medical surveillance requirements and accident investigation systems
reviewing and recommending to the Board for approval an HSE management system consistent with international best practice

The committee terms of reference were reviewed and approved by the Board during the year.

Fatal accidents

The committee deeply regrets the nine fatal accidents recorded during the year (2009: nine fatalities).

The new financial year started on a sad note following the death of five Murray & Roberts employees who lost their lives in a massive fall of ground (FOG) incident at Aquarius Marikana shaft number 4. The incident occurred on 6 July 2010.

A further two incidents regrettably occurred on 13 and 17 August 2010, at Aquarius Kroondal Kopenang shaft and the Gautrain Park Station site respectively, resulting in the death of one Murray & Roberts employee and a contractor’s employee.

The committee extends its sincere sympathies to the families, colleagues and friends of the deceased.

The committee reviews each fatal incident in detail to ensure that the root causes are identified and that corrective actions are implemented with the aim of preventing recurrence of similar incidents.

Further information on the Group’s safety performance is provided in the sustainability report on pages 96 to 99. Reference is also made to the Chairman statement and the group chief executive report to stakeholders on pages 30 and 36 respectively.

Safety evaluation

Our goal is to achieve zero harm (zero fatalities and zero disabling injuries) at all our operations. While significant progress has been made to reduce injuries, our performance is still far from this goal. A total culture transformation is necessary to drive our health and safety performance to another level. Committed and felt leadership is key to making this a reality.

At the proposal of the committee, the Board approved the appointment of DuPont Sustainable Solutions to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the Group’s South African operations against best practice safety management standards and to develop a set of continuous improvement recommendations. We recognise that this is not a quick fix solution but rather a sustained journey to zero harm.

Murray & Roberts aspires to achieve zero harm from all activities conducted, which encompasses all aspects of health (societal and occupational), safety and the natural environment.

Alan Knott-Craig
Chairman