Proactive safety initiatives embraced by producer

Introduced in the second quarter of 2023, the ‘Leading with Care’ initiative of South African iron-ore miner Kumba Iron Ore, has already had a significant impact on safety performance, the company reports.

This proactive measure ensures a continuous focus on key safety trends as part of Kumba’s drive to sustain and improve its workplace safety.

Notably, Kumba’s Sishen mine, in the Northern Cape, has achieved over eight years of fatality-free production, as highlighted in the company’s interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2024.

“By prioritising operational safety, stability, capability and cost-efficient production, we are delivering on our strategic objectives of unlocking value from our core and positioning for a sustainable future, which are essential for creating enduring stakeholder value,” says Kumba CE Mpumi Zikalala.

Representing another safety milestone, Kumba’s Kolomela mine, also in the Northern Cape, recently won the 2024 Golden Quill Award for Social Media Excellence, pertaining to a social media campaign Kumba’s communications team undertook as part of its efforts to onboard mineworkers regarding a new mobile app – the Engage app – for company engagement and to launch an incentive system to reward staff after production and safety targets have been met.

Seen as part of its efforts to improve mine site safety, the Kolomela mine uses a voucher system as an incentive to recognise and reward employees for achieving safe and targeted production.

The recognition was awarded to Kumba representatives Anglo American employee engagement principal Janine Botes and Lindiwe Moss.

The Engage app is free to all employees and contractors and enables employees to get workplace information and to facilitate engagement between employee and employer.

“We conducted impromptu interviews at the mine to determine what we should focus on with provision of the app,” says Botes.

Insights gained enabled Kumba to develop a questionnaire that it shared on the app with its employees and contractors, three months before it launched the ‘Voucher Office in Your Pocket’ campaign.

“Our goal was to reimagine how our employees engage with the voucher office without impacting production,” she explains.

How it Works

Software and communications provider Wyzetalk created the backend required for the Engage app, while prepaid card solutions provider adumo Payouts developed the integration for the employee’s cash cards, and consequently the ‘Voucher Office in Your Pocket’ campaign was launched.

adumo Payouts specialises in payouts and incentive’s provision in South Africa, offering a solution to incentivise health and safety in workplaces after employees meet certain company targets.

“This is a great example of how innovative thinking was used with technology in a practical way to solve real business challenges, with the outcome being measurable increased safety and improved productivity, thus benefiting all parties in the ecosystem,” says adumo Payouts CEO Steve Mallaby.

adumo Payout’s cards work by the value of the voucher being uploaded on the cash card from adumo Payouts, which the employees can use to make purchases at any retailer in South Africa. Alternatively, card holders can also withdraw cash from such cards.

Mallaby points out that by using a modern incentive payout solution, earned incentives are able to reward workers based on tangible results tied to specific tasks and milestones.

This method aligns incentives with desired outcomes and empowers workers by providing a transparent compensation framework.

An instant balance check available on adumo Payout’s products provides transparency and control, the company states, adding that it is valid for five years and involves a simple onboarding process to set up.

Guidelines were provided on accessing the app and within a week 800 employees, representing about 49% of Kumba’s workforce, opted in to use the Engage app to access their voucher information.