Occupational Health and Safety-Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd.

Occupational Health and Safety

Safety is our top responsibility to our employees and contractors. Zijin Mining regards occupational health and safety as one of its core values and uses the “Ten Safety Guidelines” as a guide for safety management to meet its goal of achieving “Zero Fatalities and Zero Occupational Diseases” for employees and contractors. We will continuously improve our safety management system, effectively manage the occupational health and safety risks associated with production and operations, and constantly improve our OHS performance to ensure the health and well-being of our employees, contractors and the communities where our subsidiaries operate.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

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UN Global Compact

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Targets and Progress

Zero fatality
Reduced number of accidents
With 2020 as the baseline year, all production and operation sites will have ISO45001:2018 certification by 2023
100% safety training coverage for employees and contractors

Progress in 2022
Progress in the past

42.2%

Investment on production safety was RMB 2.123 billion, a year-on-year increase of 42.2%

95%

ISO45001:2018 certification coverage reached 95%

5.9%

Total recordable incident rate per million hours worked (TRIR) was 0.64, a year-on-year decrease of 5.9%

3.3%

Lost time injury rate per million hours worked (LTIR) was 0.29, a year-on-year decrease of 3.3%

0 tier 1 process safety incidents1 due to hazardous material leaks. 1. Tier 1 process safety accident refers to the accidental leakage of toxic and harmful substances (mainly cyanide and sulfide in our process) caused by container seal failure/process problem emergency pressure relief in the production process, resulting in personnel injury, serious pollution and other safety events.

Our Approach

With reference to the ISO 45001 requirements and international best practices, we continuously improve the pyramidal safety management system with Zijin Mining’s characteristics. During the reporting period, we further revised and improved policies, guidelines and standards at all levels around policy documents such as the " Policy Statement on Management of Health and Safety" and the "Occupational Health, Safety and Environmental Management Guide". In addition, we issued four safety policies and prepared more than 1,000 “Job Safety Manuals” to provide specific job positions with targeted safety guidance.

We also formulated OHS system evaluation guidelines and rules, as well as organised the evaluations (internal audits) of the operation of OHS management system of our subsidiaries. At the same time, we entrusted thirdparty institutions to perform compliance evaluations and inspections, and conducted safety audits (external audits) for some large mines.

Risk Management

In response to the inherently high OHS risks associated with mining operations, we have implemented classified and dynamic risk management and identified OHS risks and hazards according to the Risk-basd, Risk Pre-control, Dynamic Management principle and the “Measures for Safety Risk Classification, Management and Control and Prevention, Investigation and Management of Hidden Hazards” to ensure that all kinds of control measures remain effective and minimise risks. We focus on the following aspects to carry out risk management:

Whole life cycle control:Place emphasis on source prevention, strengthen risk control during the design phase of operational projects and implement risk control measures throughout the entire construction and production process.
Unsafe behaviour control: To improve the safety awareness and skills of all employees, we implement a safety quality enhancement programme, using multi-dimensional behaviour intervention techniques to enhance all employees' safety habits. We proactively pay attention to employees’ physical and mental health, as well as behaviours and habits, guide them to form safe behavioural habits and reduce operational risks that are caused by fatigue, stress, suboptimal and other factors.
Risk changes management:Continuously conduct risk identification, improve the risk list and control measures at all levels in a timely manner. Implement higher-level control on recurring hidden hazards and at critical periods. Eliminate or reduce the potential safety risks that may arise from permanent or temporary changes in personnel, facilities, processes (techniques), etc.
Integrated contractor management: We incorporate contractors into the Company’s integrated OHS management system and manage contractors with consistent standards in safety qualifications, team quality and site management. We set up Zijin Construction Group to actively explore the self-management and general contracting model for mining projects to improve the stability of contractors and ensure continual training, in turn reducing contractors’ safety risks.

Fostering a Safety Culture

We insist upon giving employees continuous occupational health and safety training both in their orientation period and throughout their employment, as well as utilising assessments to ensure that all employees and contractors have comprehensive knowledge of occupational health and safety. In order to enhance the safety awareness of all employees, we have also launched the “Zijin Safety Academy” online learning system and compiled independent learning knowledge manuals, so that employees can acquire occupational health and safety knowledge online at any time. In addition, we carry out occupational health knowledge promotion and activities from time to time to continuously strengthen the safety awareness of our employees.

Hazardous Chemicals Management

We implement regulations such as the “Hazardous Chemicals Safety Management Code”, and strictly follow international management standards and laws and regulations of the host countries related to hazardous chemicals. We adhere to the“Minamata Convention on Mercury” and are committed not to using mercury to extract gold and not to accepting gold produced by third parties using mercury. For the elemental mercury that may be contained in natural ores, we treat it in the mineral processing and smelting process and then discharge it in compliance with the relevant regulations. The Company carries out proper safety management in the procurement, transportation, production, storage and use of hazardous chemicals, including cyanide, by:

Refrain from using and producing chemicals that are prohibited by the laws and regulations of the host countries and international conventions;
Design storage depots for hazardous chemicals according to specifications and install relevant emergency facilities according to the required standards;
For the receipt, recording, locking, transportation, and use of highly toxic chemicals, strict dual-person management is implemented.
All operations are subject to cross-checking, and violation of regulations is strictly prohibited.;
All employees and contractors involved in the storage, transportation, use, and disposal of hazardous chemicals must receive specialised training;
Adopt a safety responsibility system for major sources of hazardous chemicals and clearly define the duties and safety management responsibilities of the main technical and operational personnel.

Occupational Health Management

The mental and physical well-being of all workers are important to us. We are committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for our employees and contractors, as well as preventing work-related injuries and health damage. We have adopted the occupational disease prevention and control policy of Prevention First, Combining Prevention And Control to implement classified management and comprehensive control of health risks in the production environment. We have made occupational health management plans for all employees, and strictly implement medium- and long-term plans for the prevention and control of occupational diseases.

Physical examination: all employees and contractors are provided occupational health examination conducted by professional examination organisations before they start work, during the employment and when they are leaving the Company. The examination results are delivered to our employees and contractors in the form of a written report.
Health monitoring:we conduct long-term periodic occupational health monitoring for our employees. We keep monitoring and assessment records, and truthfully share the monitoring results with our employees and contractors. In addition, we have a position rotation and change mechanism for personnel at risk of occupational diseases to avoid long-term exposure to health hazards.

In addition, for the all-round physical and mental health of all employees and contractors, we provide health services such as health monitoring, prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases and mental health counselling, and create a positive, harmonious and inclusive health culture:

Medical protection: The Company offers medical insurance, work injury insurance and additional medical compensation and work injury compensation for our people, as well as first-aid medical supplies and full-time (part-time) medical staff stationed at the mines.
Healthy lifestyle: “Staff Lounges” are set up at the mines to provide employees with leisure and sports facilities and all types of fitness equipment. Sports and cultural activities, such as sports days, swimming competitions and healthmaster award, are held from time to time.
Additional health benefits
for female employees: We have established exclusivel lounges for female employees, providing sincere care to pregnant and breastfeeding female employees. Professionals are invited to conduct women-themed talks to help women manage their mental health. Additional maternity insurance and benefits are also provided.
Mental health: We regularly organise mental health talks, psychological counselling, psychological tests, psychological guidance and other activities, and set up facilities such as “mental health stations” to alleviate the negative effects of work stress, improve employees’ psychological quality and cultivate a positive mindset.

Emergency Management

To prevent emergencies, improve the ability to respond to emergencies involving public crises, prevent the expansion or escalation of incidents, minimise casualties and property losses, and reduce environmental damage and social impact, we have established an emergency management system with Zijin Mining’s characteristics.

In our continuous efforts to streng then our emergency management system, we have built a production safety monitoring and emergency dispatch centre that covers our major subsidiaries. Using new technologies such as AI intelligent identification, underground precision positioning, Internet of Things and big data, we have managed to achieve interconnection and integrated central control of critical risks, important facilities and key areas to significantly enhance our monitoring, early warning, emergency rescue and handling capabilities for major risks, as well as our capacity to respond to any major emergencies.

We require all mines to organise a first-class mine emergency rescue team that possesses extensive expertise. These teams shall be equipped with multiple emergency rescue professionals and equipment, and capability training and drills shall be conducted on a regular basis to respond to all types of emergencies.

Intelligent Mine for Better Safety

We believe that the development of science and technology is the greatest booster to intrinsic safety, as well as the fundamental solution to reduce risks and eliminate hazards. Therefore, we have carried out technical transition work that Replaces Human with Mechanisation, Reduces Manpower with Automation and Makes Possible Unmanned Operations Using Intelligence in all our subsidiaries. Through promoting the use of advanced and applicable technologies and equipment, the most dangerous live work is being gradually transformed to mature processes based on advanced technologies. This reduces the frequency of employees facing high-risk processes, lowers the overall risks of employees and contractors and brings intrinsic safety to a higher level.

Julong Copper's "5G+ Autonomous Driving" Mining Truck System

As a designated "National Intelligent Mine Construction Pilot Unit" by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Julong Copper actively promotes the research and application of "5G+ Autonomous Driving" technology. At present, several autonomous NTE mining trucks are in operation. During the pilot phase, 3 to 6 autonomous transport vehicles have been running together, and in the comprehensive promotion phase, it is expected to achieve a cluster operation of no less than 150 autonomous mining trucks. This effectively addresses the challenges of high-altitude and cold, and low-oxygen environments, reduces labour intensity and occupational hazards to workers, and improves the intrinsic safety level.
Remote Fully Autonomous Mine System of Zijinshan Gold and Copper Mine

Zijinshan Gold and Copper Mine deployed its underground mining intelligent shovel autonomous system, achieving collaboration between multiple equipment in the main steps in the work process, such as remote shovelling-loading, automatic driving of mining trucks, remote control of crushing and surface central control centre. A single intelligent control platform has the ability to achieve full coverage monitoring and operation of the entire underground operation. The system has changed underground live work to remote control from the ground control room, improving the work environment of the employees, effectively reducing the inherent risks of underground operations and significantly improving employees’ occupational health and safety.

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