KAZ Minerals aims to provide safe working conditions for all employees and contractors, and 2022 marked a second consecutive fatality free year. The Board and senior management have committed to the Group’s Goal Zero initiative, which covers industrial safety, occupational safety and environmental protection. In 2022, this initiative was expanded to become Living Goal Zero, which encourages the Group’s employees and contractors to view safe working practices as a way of life.

Fatalities

Number of fatalities
(employees and contractors)

Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate
(TRIFR)

KAZ Minerals believes that all fatalities are avoidable and preventable. After any fatal incident, operations are suspended and senior management attend the site as soon as possible. All fatalities are investigated by state authorities. Once this process is completed, the Group conducts its own detailed investigation to establish root causes and identify any procedural or other changes required to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.

Open pit mining is inherently safer than underground mining and the Group’s safety performance has improved as its open pit mines have ramped up in recent years to represent the majority of the Group’s production.

Injuries

The average TRIFR for ICMM members in 2021 was 2.90 (2020: 2.94). Under ICMM definitions, all injuries including Lost Time Injuries, restricted work cases and medical treatment cases are Recordable Injuries. The reporting and investigation of hazards, minor injuries and near misses, with a focus on potentially high-risk incidents, are important management tools for improving safety and health performance.

In 2022, KAZ Minerals recorded 47 TRI cases across its operations, a 13% reduction from the 54 cases recorded in 2021. Following the completion of construction activities at Aktogay expansion project, hours worked in 2022 reduced by 20% to 42.6 million hours (2021: 53.1 million hours). Therefore, despite the reduction in absolute TRI cases, the Group’s TRIFR in 2022 increased to 1.10 (2021: 1.02).

A TRIFR of 1.10 is low for the mining industry and demonstrates management’s success in establishing a strong safety culture across all of the Group’s operations. During certain months in 2022 the Group was able to operate without any Recordable Cases or any Lost Time Injuries, which provides evidence that injury-free operations are possible for KAZ Minerals. The Group will continue striving to achieve this goal in the years ahead.

Over the period from 2018 to 2022, the Group’s open pit mining operations achieved a maximum Lost Time Injury-free interval of 321 days at Aktogay, 631 days at Bozshakol and 875 days at Bozymchak. Injury rates have also significantly reduced in the East Region operations over this period.

Total Recordable Cases Frequency Rate

Total Recordable Cases

Occupational health

There were 68 new cases of occupational diseases recorded in 2022 (2021: 92). The majority of new cases in 2022 resulted from radiculopathy, sensory polyneuropathy, silicosis and hearing loss.

Occupational health problems are usually the result of long-term exposure to risks such as poor ergonomics, vibration, dust or noise. The Group has measures in place to remove or reduce these risk factors where possible, for example by limiting the time that employees spend in roles that expose them to heightened occupational health risk factors. Annual medical checks are conducted to ensure the timely identification of emerging occupational health conditions.

During 2022, actions have been further developed to address common causes of occupational disorders in the Group’s underground operations including upgraded personal protective equipment and increased automation in high-risk working environments. The open pit mines at Aktogay, Bozshakol and Bozymchak had no occupational health cases during 2022.