KAZ Minerals aims to provide safe working conditions for all employees and contractors, and we are pleased to report that there were no fatalities across the Group’s operations in 2021. The Board and senior management have committed to the Group’s Goal Zero initiative, which covers industrial safety, occupational safety and environmental protection. The Group’s focus on safety has driven a long-term downward trend in the number of injuries and fatalities at its operations.

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. No operational fatalities have occurred at any of the Aktogay, Bozshakol and Bozymchak mines since these sites commenced production, covering a total of 85 million hours worked. Regarding Baimskaya, management has prioritised establishing strong safety practices since the Group’s acquisition of the project, using its accumulated knowledge and operational experience.

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 2021 there were 54 TRI cases, unchanged from the 54 injuries recorded in 2020. Hours worked increased by 13% in 2021 to 53.1 million (2020: 47.2 million), mainly attributable to the 13.5 million hours worked at the Aktogay expansion project.

The Board and management were particularly proud that the Group’s TRIFR reduced in 2021 to 1.02 (2020: 1.14), the lowest in the Group’s history. The Group’s focus on safety culture and procedures throughout its organisation has enabled a long-term reduction in its TRIFR which has continued during the year. KAZ Minerals’ TRIFR has been well below the ICMM average for a number of years.

Over the period from 2018 to 2021, the Group’s open pit mining operations achieved maximum lost time injury-free intervals of 341 days at Aktogay, 630 days at Bozshakol and 817 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 92 new cases of occupational diseases recorded in 2021 (2020: 70). The majority of the new cases in 2021 resulted from musculoskeletal disorders, neuropathic pain, silicosis and dust bronchitis.

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 which expose them to heightened occupational health risk factors. Annual medical checks are conducted to ensure the timely identification of emerging occupational health conditions.

During 2021, actions have been developed to address common causes of occupational disorders in the Group’s underground operations including upgraded PPE and increased automation in high risk working environments.

The open pit mines at Aktogay, Bozshakol and Bozymchak had no occupational health cases during 2021.