Newmont Mining Corporation

Denver, Colorado

Processes and systems alone will not create a safe work environment. Individuals have to take personal responsibility for ensuring their workplaces are safe if everyone is going to return home safe, every day.

A stark reminder of the personal aspects of safety was the death of Pak Irawan, a forklift operator at our Batu Hijau operation in Indonesia. He died on March 15, 2011 in a warehouse accident. A loyal and valued employee for 12 years, he is survived by his wife, Ibu Hadiatullah, and daughter, Khadiratunnisa.

“Whenever an employee dies, the loss that is felt by surviving family members and friends is shared throughout Newmont and the community,” said Mike Byrne, vice president, Health, Safety and Loss Prevention & Security. “It has such a strong ripple effect. It reminds us that each of us must take personal responsibility for our safety and the safety of our co-workers.”

Those ripples are why Newmont’s Safety Journey became personal this year with “My Safety Journey.” During the first quarter, safety leaders from Operations and Exploration gathered together at four regional safety summits.

The interactive summits were designed to integrate our Safety Taskforce’s recommendations into the My Safety Journey program, and included line managers, contractors and executive management. Safety Ambassadors representing HSLP, Mine Operations, Maintenance and Contractors planned and facilitated the summits.

Additionally, the summits focused on helping attendees discover and understand “Safety Leadership and Accountability” by providing practical skills and tactics. Attendees examined how a safety leader should behave. Ambassadors also discussed the unspoken barriers – the “elephants in the room” – that prevent people from speaking up about unsafe behaviors.

A huge, inflatable elephant illustrated this point at the Africa summit. As the discussion continued and the “elephants in the room” were exposed, the elephant proceeded to slowly deflate. While this was not planned, it was a humorous and appropriate end to at least one elephant.

At the end of the summits, participants identified what they could do to further their personal safety journey and made specific commitments to actions they would take in 2011.

Inspiration from guest speakers re-energized the safety leaders. Dr. Ric Charlesworth, coach of the successful Australian hockey team, spoke about visualizing the place you want to be. “If you aim low, you will probably hit a low point, so make sure you aim high for success,” he said.

The Nevada and Hope Bay summits in North America opened with an inspiring monologue and slideshow by retired U.S. Navy Captain Charlie Plumb, Vietnam War veteran and prisoner of war. Plumb's plane was shot down over Vietnam, and he was captured, tortured and imprisoned in an 8 foot x 8 foot cell for nearly six years. He recounted moments as a survivor in a squalid prison camp. His key message was that you can direct the outcomes from different circumstances in your life by taking personal responsibility for those things over which you have control. He reminded summit attendees that the factors upon which their safety depends are all within their power to control.

The Next Step in the Journey
Every employee and a number of our contractors will have had the opportunity to participate in a My Safety Journey workshop during 2011. Each of them will make a personal commitment to safety and actions he or she will take. Many of our mine site teams also will begin to work on action plans based upon the findings of the Safety Taskforce.

“Our vision is to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries for our business, and we must be relentless in pursuing this goal,” said Richard O’Brien, president and CEO. “I know we can do it. We have plenty of days – and weeks – where no one gets hurt. If we can do it for a day or a week, we can do it every day.”

September 6, 2011