Newcrest’s commitment to improved safety prompted the creation of the Target Zero program – a Company-wide effort to prevent all injuries.

Health and Safety

Newcrest’s key priority is to provide a safe and healthy workplace for employees and contractors. Our belief is that all injuries are preventable and the ultimate goal is to have zero injuries across all areas of the business.

Target Zero

During 2003/04, Newcrest embarked on a major safety and health strategy named Target Zero. This strategy is designed to ensure we achieve world best practice in safety and health across all areas of our business. The central theme of the strategy is that all injuries are preventable.

The motivation for introducing our new strategy was that during the 2003/04 year we identified that improvements in our key safety performance measures had reached a plateau and were becoming resistant to our long-term improvement trend. In order to redress this situation, we required a new approach to health and safety in the workplace. To be successful in our endeavours of improving performance we recognised that the responsibility for safety has to be shared more broadly within the organisation and that systems development and polices alone are not sufficient. Real and sustainable improvements in safety are achieved only with sustained behavioural and attitudinal change within all employees.

The Target Zero program commenced in October 2003 with external health and safety experts undertaking benchmark audits of some key business units. The audit results were assessed against standards for world’s best practice. The results highlighted the areas in which we need to improve our performance. This information in conjunction with the results from Company workshops were developed into strategies. Key aspects include:

• Establishment of reduction targets in injury frequency rates and inclusion of targets in business plans and individual goals
• Involvement of a broader cross-section of employees, line managers and contractors in the safety management process
• Implementation of training for all line managers in safety leadership, highlighting the importance of behaviour and commitment to achieving our goal of zero injuries
• Implementation of training for all employees in risk awareness and safety skills to improve their knowledge in how to work safely, and
• Introduction of a safe behaviour observation (SBO) program throughout the organisation to give line managers new skills in the process of behavioural change.

Targets have been established for improvements in our key performance measures with the ultimate goal of zero injuries. Action plans and training programs that align the strategies and the ultimate goal are being implemented Company wide.

2003/04 health and safety performance

We have applied considerable effort in pursuing our goal of zero injuries in the workplace, however, we still have some way to go. Regrettably, a fatality occurred at the Gosowong operation in May 2004. Pak Patrsino, a PTNHM employee, was killed when the loader he was operating rolled over. A comprehensive investigation was conducted into the causes of the incident with the learnings being applied at Gosowong and other Newcrest operations, with the aim of preventing any further incidents of this nature.

Newcrest’s overall key health and safety performance indicators have shown general improvement compared to last year’s performance:

• Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) improved to 1.9 per million exposure hours from 3.0 in the previous year. While this indicator still compares favourably to the most recent industry benchmark (Australian Metalliferous Mining Industry LTIFR of 6 for 2002/03), we believe our performance is not acceptable for Newcrest.
• Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) reduced to 14.7 from a previous 28.4.
• Serious Potential Incidents (SPIs) increased to 17 from a previous 15.

Significant achievements and activities during the year were:

• Establishment of a workplace risk assessment tool at Cadia Valley Operations to recognise changed conditions and new hazards in the workplace.
• Commencement of the Safety Leadership Training programs for the executive, exploration, Cadia Valley Operations and Telfer management groups.
• Formation of the Executive Central Safety Group and Safety Working Groups and their replication on site.

Our approach for the coming year is to:

• Roll-out the Target Zero program across the Group and further develop the program.
• Provide Company-wide training and development in the Target Zero program.
• Maintain an innovative approach to safety improvement.

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