Tag Archives: Dan van der Westhuizen

Anglo American Australia workers herald new frontline safety program

Anglo American has leveraged the experience of its coal mine workers to devise its new frontline safety program, the Fatal Risk Management (FRM) program.

Through a bottom-up approach, frontline workers have been empowered to shape FRM, a program that, the company says, is easy to use and doesn’t add another layer of red tape.

Anglo American Australia CEO, Dan van der Westhuizen, said embedding frontline workers in the project team was crucial in designing the simplified and standardised tools as they understood the risks better than anyone else. He said the team included a mix of operators, coordinators, supervisors, superintendents and contractors across its Bowen Basin operations.

“Fatal Risk is not a new concept for the mining industry and learnings from our people, peers and industry experts have informed our approach,” he said. “Our point of difference has been cultivating FRM from the operator level to leverage the insights and experiences of our frontline workers to ensure we have the best chance of getting it right.”

The FRM program comprises 14 Fatal Risks and 50 crucial Fatal Controls that sit underneath risks and these must be in place to help prevent a fatality from occurring at the frontline. Every job. Every time.

“These 14 Fatal Risks are sobering because they represent circumstances where a teammate in our business or industry has lost their life or been seriously injured on the job,” van der Westhuizen said. “It’s not often you get a chance to stop, take a step back and create a new way of working but we knew we had to make a change. Everyone deserves to go home to their families, friends and loved ones at the end of every shift.

“We know change is not easy and a culture doesn’t change overnight, but we know we are moving in the right direction.”

Anglo American was a finalist in the 2024 Prospect Awards for the rollout of its FRM project – created by the frontline, for the frontline.

Capcoal Exploration Supervisor, Will Parfitt, who has been in the mining industry for more than 17 years, said he had been proud to represent his colleagues as a member of the Fatal Risk frontline team.

“There is nothing more important than the safety of my colleagues across Anglo American and this is one of the most important things I’ve done,” he said. “I’m really proud to be involved. We now have one universal Take 5 book and Job Risk Assessment template across all operating divisions – among the last lines of defence when it comes to identifying and managing risk at the frontline.

“Five different variations existed before which was extremely confusing and painful for our workers and contractors who work across multiple sites. It wasn’t an easy process – we each brought our own views, perspectives and things we thought our individual sites wanted and needed. We recognised early on that we wouldn’t be able to please everyone or achieve perfection. We wanted to design the best tool that met the needs of the majority.

“When coupled with the other tools in our FRM system, our Take 5 provides the prompts to change our frontline’s perception and tolerance to risk.”

Moranbah North Mine Underground Coal Mine Worker, Lil Shanley, who has just returned from the International Mines Rescue Competition in Colombia, was also a key member of the FRM development team.

“When someone doesn’t return home, the impact is significant on the families, friends, colleagues, community and the industry. The ripple effect is devastating,” she said. “Ultimately, we’re all here for the same reason – nothing is more important than safety. I’ve worked across almost the whole Bowen Basin and the simple tools are the ones that work best.

“If it’s too complex, people don’t understand it and they won’t complete it properly for fear of getting it wrong. There is nothing confusing about these new tools and the people using them are the ones who have come up with them. I am proud of being able to make the decisions that are going to become a legacy.”

Capcoal Dozer Operator, Emily Page, also involved in the FRM team, said she loved mining and could never go back to a normal nine-to-five job but being on site for a fatality was “the worst thing in the world”.

“If we can make sure everyone goes home every day, that’s the most important thing,” she said. “The most important thing to come out of the mine is the miner. I just don’t want anyone to lose their life, not just in Anglo American but in the industry; it’s got to stop.”

Anglo American defines Fatal Risk as something that has the potential to immediately kill a worker on the frontline during a task. Sadly, these Fatal Risks represent a circumstance where someone in the business or in our industry has tragically lost their life in the past. Under each Fatal Risk are 3-5 Fatal Controls which are the crucial few controls that need to be in place to help prevent a fatality on the frontline. Importantly to meet the criteria of being a ‘Fatal Control’, any worker must have the ability to implement and check that the control is operating as intended– with the power truly being in a frontline worker’s hands.

Shaun Dando, Safety Leadership Practices Coach at Grosvenor, says: “If you asked me until recent times, I would have struggled to identify the Fatal Controls most relevant to me – we have over 1,000 critical controls on file. With FRM, we have narrowed that down and now the controls relate specifically to the Fatal 14, which is so practical and user-friendly.

“I look at that list of 14 and can put faces and names to those risks. I have lost workmates to a number of them, so there is a real reason to have them; it is so we all go home safely – every day,” he said.

Anglo American assembles Queensland’s first ever all-female Mines Rescue Team

Queensland’s first ever all-female Mines Rescue Team has been formed at Anglo American’s Capcoal Open Cut Mine, near Middlemount, and is set to join the state’s competitive Mines Rescue Open Cut Circuit.

Known as the Women of Steel, the team is made up of seven women who are now in training for the QMRS Mines Rescue Challenge later this year.

Team captain and Capcoal Open Cut’s Emergency Response Team Coordinator, Kiri Blanch, says she has been looking to put together an all-female team for some time.

“Our team is a dedicated group of women who really gel together, and we’re proud to be the first Anglo American and Queensland-based all-women team in the Queensland competition,” she said. “Everyone has been very supportive, especially our male counterparts. It’s a reflection of the culture at our site that continues to both support mines rescue and empower the women we work with.

“This has inspired our team to commit to the challenge, improve our health and fitness and achieve the best results possible whilst representing women in mining. We will train closely with the Capcoal Open Cut men’s team and support each other during competitions.”

CEO of Anglo American in Australia, Dan van der Westhuizen, said the team had the backing of all their colleagues across the company.

“We’re so pleased to support this outstanding group of women as they get set to make a real mark on Queensland’s mines rescue circuit,” van der Westhuizen said. “Although we still have further to go, it’s a strong example of how our industry and our operations are moving towards achieving equal representation and equality.

“At Anglo American, we have a strong history of supporting our highly competitive mines rescue teams across both our open cut and underground operations, so it’s particularly pleasing that that our Women of Steel are now Queensland’s first all-female team. Our mines rescue teams play a critical role in any incident response or rescue, and these competitions help ensure their skills are well honed, if called upon to undertake a rescue.”

Anglo American operates five steelmaking coal mines in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, and has additional joint venture interests in steel-making coal and manganese, as well as copper exploration projects underway in Queensland and Western Australia.

Anglo American to remove steelmaking coal business Scope 2 emissions with Stanwell Corp pact

Anglo American says it has sourced the supply of 100% renewable electricity for its operations in Australia from 2025, agreeing terms for a 10-year partnership with Stanwell Corporation, the
Queensland Government-owned provider of electricity and energy solutions.

The deal will effectively remove all Scope 2 emissions from Anglo American’s steelmaking coal business in Australia from 2025, supporting Anglo American’s progress towards carbon-neutral operations by 2040, it said.

Dan van der Westhuizen, CEO of Anglo American in Australia, said: “Sourcing 100% renewables supply from Stanwell Corporation, linked to two major wind and solar projects in Queensland, is
a big step towards our target of carbon-neutral operations in Australia – and globally – by 2040. We are committed to playing our part to help combat climate change, including accelerating a number of technologies to abate our on-site emissions, from electrifying our truck fleet and other mobile equipment to capturing the methane from our steelmaking coal seams.

“I am delighted that we are able to support Stanwell Corporation in its investment in 650 MW of renewables capacity for Queensland. Today’s deal brings significant environmental benefits
and is net present value-positive compared with our current energy mix, while underwriting a large investment in renewable energy generation for Queensland.”

Anik Michaud, Anglo American’s Group Director of Corporate Relations and Sustainable Impact, said: “Combined with the agreements we already have in place for all our South America operations, from 2025 we expect to be drawing 60% of our global electricity requirements from renewable sources, transforming our Scope 2 emissions profile. We are committed to producing the metals and minerals that we need to mitigate the extent of global warming in the most responsible and sustainable way.”

The partnership between Anglo American and Stanwell underwrites investment in the two major Queensland renewable energy projects – Clarke Creek Wind Farm in Central Queensland and
Blue Grass Solar Farm near Chinchilla, Anglo American says.