Health and Safety
The health and safety of our employees and community is a part of Newmont’s values, and we have several programs onsite to achieve a healthy, zero harm environment.
Fatality Risk Prevention
The Fatality Risk Management program implemented in Ahafo is an integral part of risk assessment with key focus on fatality risk and associated critical controls. The process entails carrying out field verifications of critical controls by verifiers and risk leads to determine whether critical controls are in place and effective to mitigate the associated fatality risk. In the absence of a critical control or where a non-effective critical control is identified, the job must be stopped to prevent a fatality. Once a critical control failure is identified, it is remedied before the job is continued. This program enables Ahafo to focus on fatality risk elimination both onsite and offsite.
Pre-start Meeting
Standardized Pre-Start meetings provide the best opportunity for supervisors to address their entire team prior to beginning of the shift work. Through these meetings, leaders:
- Establish expectations for safety
- Ensure clarity of task assignment, fatality risks associated with the task with identified critical controls
- Assess fitness for work
- Communicate important business information
- Enable the team to share and plan for any improvements or concerns before starting the day
Leadership Safety Team Meetings
Ahafo’s monthly leadership safety meetings engage and align the Africa regional leadership around the mine’s health and safety goals. The meetings also embed the desired safety culture while providing a platform for recognizing and celebrating safety achievements and sharing best practices.
Safety Interactions
As the mine progresses its journey to zero harm, Ahafo’s leaders regularly interact with employees about the company’s safety values, challenges and successes. Together, they identify and correct unsafe behaviors.
Field Level Risk Assessment (FLRA)/Job Hazard Analysis (JHA)
Ahafo has implemented FLRA and a reviewed JHA procedure to prevent fatalities and injuries by defining the requirements for the performance of risk management in the field prior to the commencement of work.
The FLRA is a tool completed by an individual prior to starting a task to ensure they follow safe methodology. The JHA is a tool completed by a group prior to commencing a task that has a number of steps to identify the hazards and document the controls that will be put in place to mitigate the hazard. The “Hold Point” concept has been incorporated into the reviewed JHA, where the Supervisor is required to identify if any step of the job requires their presence prior to that step proceeding.
Environment
Ahafo adheres to the highest standards of national and internationally accepted environmental practices. Consistent with Newmont’s commitment to responsible environmental stewardship, we strive to ensure that our employees and contractors abide by standards that are protective of both human health and the environment.
Certification ISO 14001
Ahafo has been ISO 14001 certified since 2010. ISO 14001 is a benchmark for which top international companies are assessed to ensure adherence to the highest environmental standards. The mine was recertified for ISO 14001 (2015) in May 2018 for improved performance and showing leadership in responsible environmental stewardship.
Cyanide Code
The Ahafo mine is also certified under the International Cyanide Management Code. Subscription to the code is voluntary and represents best practice in cyanide management.
Reclamation
Reclamation is an essential part of Newmont’s operations. Ahafo conducts concurrent reclamation during operations and final closure after Life of Mine. The aim is to ensure that the site is left in a condition that is safe and stable to minimize long-term environmental impact. The mine also ensures that the site is without any future liability and land use restrictions are minimized.
Ahafo’s concurrent reclamation began in 2009. Both native and exotic tree species have been planted and more than 150 hectares of waste rock dump have been reclaimed as of the end of 2018.
The mine’s reclamation and mine engineering teams collaborate on long-term planning for revegetation programs, as well as weed and soil control. Learn more about our closure and reclamation practices here.
Monitoring and Compliance
The Ahafo Mine adheres to all legal requirements, environmental standards, policies and procedures. We collaborate with government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Water Resource Commission to develop, implement and audit environmental programs.
Ahafo monitors and reports on water quality and quantity, air quality, noise and blast levels as part of its commitment to responsible environmental practices.
Water Storage Facility
Ahafo’s Water Storage Facility (WSF), a fresh water dam built to provide supplementary fresh water for the mine’s processing plant, is closely monitored to ensure that the water quality and level are compliant with the regulatory approved standards. Ahafo’s environmental laboratory also provides onsite analyses and environmental data evaluation. We collaborate with regulators, consultants and researchers on various projects, including ecological studies of the WSF. To ensure the safety and free movement of people around the WSF, Ahafo has warning signs, conducts regular patrols and community education. Learn more about our water processes here.
Environmental Control Dams (ECDs)
The ECDs are sediment control structures that have been constructed downstream of the operation to impound turbid runoff water and allow the sediment to settle before release into the environment. This helps minimize sediment flow into streams and prevent flooding. To ensure the safety and free movement of people around the ECDs, the operation has erected warning signs, conduct regular patrols and community education.
Cyanide Management
The Counter Current Decantation Circuit (CCDs) is used to dilute the standard levels within the process waste before it is pumped into the tailings dam. This ensures that the level of active cyanide at the tailings dam is very low and within approved regulatory limits. Learn more about our cyanide management practices here.
Waste Management
Ahafo also operates an Integrated Waste Management Facility to manage hazardous waste streams in an environmentally responsible manner.
External Collaboration
The mine’s collaboration with bodies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Water Resources Commission ensures fulfillment of its regulatory obligations and implementation of environmental best practices.