The health and safety of our employees, contractors, communities, site visitors and the public is critical to our success and continued operation. All our activities, from exploration to mine closure, are conducted with health and safety top of mind and with an “all incidents are preventable” mentality. This is fundamental to being a responsible miner.
Centerra’s health and safety (H&S) processes and systems are designed to ensure that we meet or exceed local, regional, and national health and safety legislation everywhere we operate.
In 2020:
Centerra embarked on a journey toward implementing programs and initiatives that are conducive to the mitigation of fatal risks.
Employees and contractors received 219,919 hours, respectively, of health and safety training during the year.
We completed our first global health and safety week focusing on field visits by senior leadership to personally communicate key health and safety messages, topics, initiatives, activities, and crew safety huddles.
Work Safe/Home Safe
We continue to prioritize H&S training for all employees and contractors. Our top priority is to ensure that every employee, contractor, and site visitor returns home safely after every shift or mine visit.
The implementation and rollout of Centerra’s Work Safe/Home Safe Program was completed in 2018, with the second phase of the program beginning in 2019. The program is central to delivering health and safety training throughout Centerra, and to building an organization-wide culture of safety leadership. Our program focuses on both senior management communication and the implementation of practical tools to empower employees and contractors. Our aim is for these elements to work together to create an employee commitment to safety-related behavioural changes. By adding a personal and emotional element and encouraging open communication across the Company, we aim to create a sense of safety “ownership” that will help improve operational practices related to health and safety. In 2019, we introduced a new element of the program called Visible Felt Leadership, which focuses on safety-related field interactions between Centerra’s senior and line management personnel and employees.
One essential component of the program is “STOP Conversations,” which encourages all employees and contractors to speak up if they see someone exhibiting unsafe work practices. We also provide employees with the opportunity to submit health and safety concerns anonymously – without any threat or fear of retribution.
In late 2020, we launched a virtual introduction of our WS|HS Program as part of our onboarding package. This orientation program must be complete prior to arriving on site and will serve as an introduction to Centerra’s values and cultures.
Our commitment to health and safety also extends to all contractors. We ensure that each contractor receives initial safety orientation as well as continuing safety training and education throughout their engagement with Centerra. Contractors are also subject to a pre-project selection process that includes robust health and safety criteria, including consideration of earlier health and safety performance. While on any Centerra site, each contractor group is assigned a site-based Centerra “owner” who is directly responsible and accountable for the H&S performance of their respective contractor groups.
Total Occupational Health and Safety Training Hours1
1 The 2015 total occupational health and safety training hours only reflect the Kumtor Gold Mine as this was Centerra’s only operating asset in 2015. In 2016, Centerra acquired Thompson Creek Metals, and in 2018 Centerra finalized the acquisition of AuRico Metals.
Emergency Preparedness
To ensure our teams have the tools, skills and resources needed to address an emergency, each site has proactive emergency response plans and highly skilled, rigorously trained emergency response teams in place.
The emergency response teams at all Centerra sites receive regular training on emergency prevention, including on dealing with high-hazard priority incidents such as cyanide and chemical spills and dispersal, high-angle rescues, vehicle extrications, and fires. Along with training, sites conduct periodic drills and mock exercises to ensure that teams understand proper procedures and to identify areas for improvement. Centerra’s highly skilled emergency response teams (ERTs) at Mount Milligan and Kumtor compete in annual district and regional mine rescue competitions, which provide excellent opportunities for building team spirit as well as continually testing and improving emergency response skills.
Protecting Employee and Community Health and Safety
We recognize that the presence of a mining project may contribute to an influx of migration into our local communities. This, in turn, can play a role in increasing safety and health–related issues, including communicable and non-communicable diseases and other medical conditions. To protect our employees and communities, we take proactive measures to raise awareness and promote good hygiene and wellbeing practices.
We conduct health screenings for employees and contractors before they are hired and then on a periodic basis throughout their employment or contract. Each year, we also invest in preventative health programs, which may include voluntary flu vaccinations, inter-site fitness challenges and ad hoc guest speakers. In 2018, as part of the flu prevention vaccination program, 500 employees at Kumtor voluntarily received an influenza vaccination.
Maintaining community safety is a key priority. It is important to manage and address community concerns over issues such as increased traffic density, cyanide transportation and the introduction of new security personnel.
To manage the impacts associated with increased traffic and maintain road safety around communities at Öksüt, we took proactive measures to communicate transport routes to communities. In collaboration with relevant local authorities, we installed warning signage on roads near our sites and also developed a Road Safety Awareness Program for surrounding communities. Additionally, for relevant site teams, we have a Traffic and Transport Training Program for all employees and contractors; we also conduct a driver safety training program that teaches defensive driving skills and have set a zero-tolerance limit for alcohol and illegal drugs.
More information about cyanide and security practices can be found here and here.
Mental Health
We recognize the importance of creating a supportive work environment and understand how mental health contributes to our employees’ safety. As part of our commitment to our employees, we continuously assess how we can better support them during stressful and difficult times.
In British Columbia, during Mental Illness Awareness Week in October 2020, we collaborated with local Indigenous groups to raise awareness and distribute informational resources to help end the stigma associated with mental health. Throughout 2020, we offered several mental health sessions across our Canadian operations during our global health and safety week and in response to the