BHP Billiton 2007 Full Sustainability Report 1 HSEC Targets Scorecard
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It’s our... BHP Billiton Sustainability Report Full Report 2007 It’s our licence to operate Our world is facing many complex, interrelated challenges in balancing ever increasing demand for resources with sustainable development. For society to grant us our ‘licence to operate’, we must demonstrate to our host communities and governments that we can, and will, protect the value of their environmental and social resources and that they will share in our business success. As the world’s largest diversified resource company, our decisions have the potential to impact our environment and society – now and into the future. To ensure the decisions we make today are the right ones for a sustainable future, we will reach out to our employees, contractors, suppliers, customers, business partners, and host communities and governments. We will work together with them to innovate, to challenge standard practice and to find sustainable solutions. This report is one of three annual Company publications: Annual Review, Annual Report, Sustainability Report. The Annual Report The Annual Review The Sustainability Report is a comprehensive is our summary annual is a summary of the full compliance report that report. It provides a Sustainability Report has been designed to summary of Group available online. It address the various highlights, reviews by contains information reporting requirements the Chairman and CEO on our sustainability in the countries in which and business highlights. policy and governance, the Group operates. It also contains the stewardship, health, It’s our... It’s our... Group’s corporate It’s our... safety, environment, governance statement social responsibility and and remuneration report, economic contributions. Directors’ report and Annual Report 2007 Annual Review 2007 BHP Billiton Sustainability Report summary financial report. Summary Report 2007 Cover The ‘Nest’ – 2008 Beijing Olympic Stadium At BHP Billiton, we are proud to be the Official Diversified Minerals and Medals Sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Olympic movement ideals, such as achievement, integrity and respect, mirror our own set of Charter values and commitment to sustainable development. More about • About Us • Customer Centre Sustainability BHP Billiton • Our Businesses • Sustainable Development www.bhpbilliton.com • Investors and Media • People and Employment at BHP Billiton BHP Billiton Limited. ABN 49 004 028 077. Registered in Australia. Registered office: 180 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia BHP Billiton Plc. Registration number 3196209. Registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Neathouse Place, London SW1V 1BH, UK Message From The Chief Executive Officer The continuing success and sustainability of our Company is heavily dependent on securing and maintaining our ‘licence to operate’, wherever we do business around the globe. We work actively on securing and maintaining our licence to operate through the ethical conduct of all our people, our ability to keep our people healthy and safe, our efforts to improve the quality of life of the communities in which we operate and protection of the environment. While it is a time of unparalleled growth and prosperity of our business, it is also a time of dynamic and complex challenges. To find truly effective and sustainable solutions will require others to engage in the challenge. We can Charles Goodyear not do it alone; it is a shared responsibility that we have with our host nations, regions and communities, our people, our business partners and our peers. This year we continued to seek opportunities to engage, ranging from one-on-one meetings and multi- stakeholder forums to cross-sectoral partnerships and industry initiatives. The strong commodity cycle, driven by solid growth in developing economies, such as China and India, influences the types of sustainability challenges we face and how we approach them. Strong investment has increased our industry’s demand for skilled technical and professional people. Attracting the right people to the right location at the right time continues to present challenges. But with challenges comes opportunities, and as we expand our activities into less traditional regions, we are opening up new strategies for attracting and developing talent. Our International Graduate Program is testament to this approach. There is a growing consumer expectation that mined resources are sourced and supplied responsibly. The risk of harm caused by improper handling and use of commodities such as lead and uranium are of significant concern to many stakeholders. Our stewardship initiatives are designed to provide a framework that engages key actors in the lifecycle of our products such that responsible management is assured at all times. Tragically and unacceptably, eight people lost their lives at our operations during the year, despite overall improvements in our injury trends. We continue to reinforce our steadfast belief that we must never take the health and safety of our people for granted and the pursuit of Zero Harm remains our overriding goal. In 2007, we generally performed well against most of our other sustainable development measures. Our current five- year targets concluded at the close of the 2007 financial year, with good results in the total number of injuries recorded and greenhouse gas emissions. Our increase in the number of diagnosed cases of noise-induced hearing loss while disappointing, reflects our commitment to continuous improvement in monitoring techniques and our willingness to assess our performance against the most stringent standards. New five-year public targets will commence in 2008. In particular, we will further focus our attention on eliminating fatal risks, further reducing the energy and greenhouse intensity of our business, optimising the use of water, and minimising occupational exposures. Climate change is an area of increased focus for the Company. We recognise our shared responsibility to address the risks of climate change and are working with others to find ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We have updated our policy by setting new targets to further reduce the energy and greenhouse gas intensity of our business, we are committing increased funds to finding technological solutions in partnership with others and we are working to better understand and manage our emissions, and the impact of our products, on climate change. This includes working with the Australian Government to help define a National Carbon Emissions Trading System, as well as continuing to build our trading profile in Europe. Our commitment to spending 1 per cent of pre-tax profits, on a rolling three-year average, on voluntary community programs resulted in US$103.4.million going directly to benefit our communities. Through our global Employee Matched Giving Program our employees personally donated or fundraised around US$1.8 million and contributed 69,000 hours of volunteering time. The Company matched these efforts by providing around US$2.4 million to over 880 community organisations. As a member of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), we are committed to superior business practices in sustainable development. We have committed to implement the ICMM Sustainable Development Framework and comply with policy statements of the ICMM Council. Details are given in the Full Sustainability Report, which has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 2006 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. We believe the Report provides a balanced and reasonable representation of our economic, environmental and social performance. I would like to thank all our employees and contractors for their commitment and efforts and for their contribution to the success of BHP Billiton. I am leaving the Company with the confidence that it is well positioned to continue its commitment to sustainable development as an integral part of its ability to prosper and succeed. Charles Goodyear Chief Executive Officer Contents 2007 at a Glance...................................................... 1 Executive Management .................................... 94 HSEC Targets Scorecard...................................... 2 Corporate HSEC............................................... 94 Customer Sector Group Performance Reviews..... 5 HSEC Leadership Team...................................... 94 Aluminium........................................................... 6 Hierarchy of Systems and Documents............... 106 Base Metals........................................................ 8 Company Charter............................................ 106 Diamonds and Specialty Products.....................10 Sustainable Development Policy..................... 106 Energy Coal.......................................................12 HSEC Management Standards....................... 107 Iron Ore .............................................................14 Company-Wide Procedures, Protocols, Manganese........................................................16 Guidelines and Toolkits................................... 108 Metallurgical Coal..............................................18 Key Management Processes............................. 109 Petroleum ..........................................................21 Business Conduct........................................... 109 Stainless Steel Materials ...................................23 Risk Management ........................................... 110 External