De Beers Scores Injury-Free Record

The De Beers Geological Services Division together with the RSA Exploration and Africa Office based in Kimberley and at Centurion has completed three years without a single lost time injury - a new record in De Beers operations.  The record was achieved in October last year.

General manager exploration services, Mike Lain says, "It's a remarkable achievement for an exploration team that is spread throughout South Africa and in a wide range of environments. It is also an exceptional milestone within the De Beers Group."

Prior to 2000, the division regularly recorded a poor Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) when compared with other De Beers mining and non-mining operations. As a result, it undertook a strategic plan to address safety concerns. The National Union of Mineworkers, which was continuously supportive of the strategic plan, has been an integral part of the process.

As a whole, De Beers operations made significant achievements in health and safety last year.  The LTIFR was a historic 0.26 per 200 000 hours worked, an improvement of 19% when compared to the previous year.  In addition 2.5 million fatality free worker shifts were recorded.

Sadly, De Beers and its partners in Namibia and Botswana had four fatalities during 2002.  The causes of these have been thoroughly investigated and every effort is being made to pursue the company's safety objective of zero tolerance.

The Geological Services Division provides a support service to the De Beers exploration ventures globally and has offices in the Northern Cape (Kimberley) and Gauteng.  It is the first De Beers operation to have completed three years without a lost time injury.