Page 58 - Annual Report 2020

1.7.4 Health

We recognise that activities at our operated assets can impact the health of our people. We set clear
requirements with mandatory minimum controls (the Our Requirements for Health standard) to manage
and protect the health and wellbeing of our employees and contractors.

Occupational illness referred to as ‘systems thinking’ where work is considered as a
In FY2020, the reported incidence of occupational illness for whole, to provide effective identification, assessment and
(1)
employees was 4.3 per million hours worked, a decrease of management of risks. Through our Standardised Work Program, we
1.6 per cent compared with FY2019. The hours worked increased seek to empower individuals to design their work in a way that
by 9 per cent reducing the overall occupational illness rate. focuses on potentially damaging energies (for example electrical,
gravitational, high pressure) to identify health and other risks and
Excluded from this reporting are cases of COVID-19 among our implement controls.
employees that may have arisen from workplace transmission.
This is due to the inherent difficulty in concluding, with reasonable The main changes in the incidence of occupational illness in FY2020
certainty, that a person was infected as a consequence of work- compared to FY2019 were a decrease in the rate of employee cases
related activities or exposure in a setting of high levels of community of NIHL reported by our operated assets in South America, which
transmission and evolving understanding of the epidemiological were offset by an increase in the rate of musculoskeletal illness in
criteria for infection. For internal risk management purposes, Minerals Australia. As noted above the hours worked increased by
we have sought to identify where risks of workplace transmission 9 per cent, reducing the overall illness rate.
may have been a factor. Review of this information, along with a suite In March 2020, health surveillance activities, such as audiometric
of leading indicators, has supported the continual evaluation of the testing, had to be suspended in some operated assets in Australia
effectiveness of our COVID-19 controls and informed improvement and South America due to the requirements of managing
opportunities. We are progressing work on classification and COVID-19. This influenced the reduced number of
verification of potential work-relatedness for COVID-19 cases in NIHL cases reported by the operated assets in South America.
further support of enhancing our risk management processes and Occupational exposures
enabling external reporting. For key statistics and more information
on our COVID-19 response, refer to section 1.4.6. For more than a decade BHP has set occupational exposure limits
(OELs) for our most material exposures based upon the latest
scientific evidence, which for a number of agents resulted in
Reported cases of employee Occupational illness stricter limits than the regulatory requirements, and for others,
such as diesel exhaust, a significantly lower limit than regulations
Per million hours worked require. Where exposures potentially exceed regulatory limits or
5 the stricter limits of BHP, respiratory protective equipment is worn.
0.73
In addition, for our most material exposures to diesel particulate
0.72 matter (DPM), silica and coal mine dust, we have committed to a
4 0.87 0.51 2.71 0.66
five-year target to achieve a 50 per cent reduction in the number
2.55 2.48 of workers potentially exposed as compared to our baseline
(2)
2.84 1.75
3 exposure profile (as at 30 June 2017 (3) (4) ) by FY2022. In FY2016,
3
we committed to applying an OEL of 0.03 mg/m for DPM and in
FY2017, we committed to applying OELs of 1.5 mg/m for respirable
3
2
coal mine dust by 1 July 2020 and 0.05 mg/m for silica by 1 July
3
1.75 2021. Exposure data in this Report is based on these limits and in
1.48 all cases discounts the effect of personal protective equipment.
1 1.19
1.11 ● Noise induced hearing loss In FY2020, there was a reduction in potential exposure to silica
0.60 ● Musculoskeletal disease in excess our OEL of 8 per cent compared to FY2019 reported
0 ● Other by our Minerals Americas operated assets. An initial qualitative
FY2020 FY2019 FY2018 FY2017 FY2016 assessment of some work groups indicated potential exposure in
excess of our OEL; however, an extensive quantitative assessment
determined exposure to be less than estimated and less than our
The data for FY2016 to FY2018 includes Continuing and OEL. At our Minerals Australia coal operated assets, implemented
Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets). FY2019 data includes exposure reduction projects have reduced potential exposure
Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets) to 31 October 2018 to silica in FY2020 by 30 per cent compared to FY2019. Overall,
and Continuing operations. in FY2020 we achieved a reduction of 13 per cent compared
The reported incidence of contractor occupational illness was to FY2019 in the number of workers potentially exposed to silica
in excess of our OEL.
1.43 per million hours worked, a decrease of 11 per cent compared
with FY2019. We do not have full oversight of the incidence of In FY2020, exposure to respirable coal mine dust remained below our
contractor noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) cases in many parts OEL in all operated assets. Work to control exposure to diesel exhaust
of BHP due to regulatory regimes and limited access to data. Also particulate at Olympic Dam and Nickel West resulted in potential
excluded from this reporting are cases of COVID-19 among contractors exposure being reduced by 55 per cent compared to FY2019 and
engaged by BHP, due to the inherent difficulty in concluding, with by 88 per cent compared to the adjusted FY2017 baseline.
reasonable certainty, that a person was infected as a consequence Overall, our material exposures have reduced by 60 per cent
of work-related activities or exposure, as described above. compared to the adjusted FY2017 baseline, which exceeds our
The majority of our reported occupational illnesses are FY2022 target.
musculoskeletal illness, which are conditions impacting the Coal mine dust lung disease
musculoskeletal system and connective tissues attributable
to repetitive work-related stress or strain or exposure over time. As at 30 June 2020, two cases of coal mine dust lung disease
(1)
Musculoskeletal illness does not include disorders caused by (CMDLD) were recorded among our current employees at our
slips, trips, falls or similar incidents. We are trialling the APHIRM coal operated assets. In addition, one current employee who had
(A Participative Hazard Identification and Risk Management) toolkit previously been recorded as a case of CMDLD had a workers’
developed by La Trobe University at a number of our compensation claim accepted. There were five former BHP
MineralsAustralia operated assets. Planned additional trials in employees who had a workers’ compensation claim accepted
FY2020 were delayed due to COVID-19. APHIRM applies a concept for CMDLD in FY2020.
(1) An illness that occurs as a consequence of work-related activities or exposure.
(2) For exposures exceeding our FY2017 occupational exposure limits discounting the use of personal protective equipment, where required.
(3) The baseline exposure profile is derived through a combination of quantitative exposure measurements and qualitative assessments undertaken by specialist
occupational hygienists consistent with best practice as defined by the American Industrial Hygiene Association.
(4) The baseline has been adjusted to exclude Discontinued operations (Onshore US assets).
56 BHP Annual Report 2020