Introduction
Stakeholders are an integral part of Gold Fields’ business. Their support underpins our social licence to operate, which, in turn, impacts our ability to create enduring value. We recognise our activities have the potential to adversely impact the human rights of our stakeholders. Gold Fields is committed to upholding and respecting the human rights of our stakeholders, including but not limited to employees, communities, contractors, suppliers, service providers and business partners. This commitment is key to us delivering our vision to be the preferred gold mining company delivering sustainable, superior value.
Summary
We recognise our activities, from exploration, construction, operations and closure have the potential for a range of human rights risks which we strive to prevent or mitigate. We remediate human rights impacts which we have caused and contributed to through our activities. Respect for human rights underpins our leading commitment to ESG, which is one of Gold Fields three strategic pillars. We report our actions to prevent, mitigate and address human rights risks and impacts in our Integrated Annual Report. The Gold Fields Board, particularly its Social, Ethics and Transformation Committee has oversight of human rights in relation to our business.
Our key human rights commitments are to:
- uphold the fundamental human rights and freedoms
- undertake human rights due diligence
- provide training and guidance for all relevant staff, including security staff and contractors
- raise awareness of human rights issues with our vendors and collaborate with them to address identified concerns
- encourage diversity and inclusivity in our workplaces
- respect the human rights and interests, cultures and customs of communities surrounding our mining activities
- provide site-level grievance mechanisms for our workforce and communities
We incentivise both strong safety performance and behaviours and gender diversity through Group and individual performance incentive programmes using leading and lagging indicators. Details are provided in our Remuneration Report.
Impact
Eight salient human rights have been identified at Gold Fields. These issues have the potential to cause the most severe negative impacts because of our activities or business relationships and mitigating them is the focus of work by our teams.
- Health and safety: occupational incident or exposure leading to physical and/or psychological harm
- Water: loss of containment and the subsequent impact on water quality released into the environment
- Human Resources: impact of our working environment, policies and procedures on employees and contractors
- Resettlement: land acquisition, economic compensation and community resettlement
- Procurement: human rights violations by suppliers, contractors, service providers and other business partners within our supply chain, as it relates to the procurement of products and services
- Transportation: Transportation incidents involving hazardous substances and/or people
- Mine closure: the ineffective, incomplete or failed implementation of mine closure plans
- Public security: abuse of power by public or private security
In determining the salient issues, we recognize our workers and contractors, particularly female and vulnerable workers, and our host communities, particularly women, children, resettled communities and Indigenous Peoples as our most vulnerable stakeholders.
Gold Fields’ Policies and Commitments
Our Human Rights Policy Statement was updated in 2021, and forms an integral part of our Sustainable Development framework and commits us to respect and uphold the fundamental human rights and freedoms listed below in respect of our stakeholders:
- human dignity
- not be subject to any form of unfair discrimination or harassment
- fair treatment (subject to considerations of a affirming previously disadvantaged groups)
- freedom and security of person
- not be subjected to human-trafficking, slavery, servitude, and forced labour
- freedom of conscience, religion, sexual orientation, thought, belief, opinion, and cultural heritage
- freedom of expression (subject to considerations of confidentiality and the prohibition of hate speech and incitement to cause harm)
- peaceful assembly
- freedom of association and collective bargaining
- make political choices and to exercise those rights outside of working hours
- freedom of movement, including the minimisation of involuntary resettlement (subject to fair compensation where the latter is unavoidable)
- fair labour practices
- not be employed if you are a child
- not be arbitrarily deprived of property or possessions
- freely participate in the cultural life of your choice
- lawful, reasonable, and fair action
- not be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.
It notes Gold Fields’ support for the:
- United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
- Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.
Specifically, in addition to other Gold Fields’ policy commitments, we:
- support diversity, equity and inclusivity in our workplaces
- respect the human rights and interests, cultures and customs of communities surrounding our mining activities
- provide training and guidance for all relevant staff, including security staff and contractors
- undertake human rights due diligence
- provide site-level grievance mechanisms for our workforce and communities
- work to raise awareness of human rights issues with our vendors and collaborate with them to address identified concerns
Everyone working for Gold Fields plays a role in respecting these fundamental rights.
Gold Fields is also committed to screen and review all participation in its supply chain across the world. Where a human rights and related violation is identified and assessed, we will either engage with the applicable entity to discuss remediation, or we exit the business relationship.
The following internal policies and guidelines support our work in this area:
- Code of Conduct
- Anti-bribery and Corruption Policy
- Community Policy
- Climate Change Policy
- Environmental Policy
- Diversity Policy
- Whistleblowing Policy
- Material and Supply Chain Stewardship Policy
- Occupational Health and Safety Policy
- Harassment Policy
- Sexual Harassment Policy
- Disciplinary and Grievance Policy
- Stakeholder Relationship and Engagement Policy
- Sustainable Development Policy
- Tailings Storage Facility Management Policy
- Water Stewardship Policy
- Supplier Code of Business Conduct
- Community and Stakeholder Engagement Handbook
As a member of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), we engage actively with our peers on human rights in the organisation’s committees, working groups and practice groups. We are required to implement and publicly report and assure our performance against its Mining Principles and Performance Expectations, particularly:
Respect human rights and the interests, cultures, customs and values of workers and communities affected by our activities
- Support the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by developing a policy commitment to respect human rights, undertaking human rights due diligence and providing for or cooperating in processes to enable the remediation of adverse human rights impacts that we have caused or contributed to.
- Avoid the involuntary physical or economic displacement of families and communities. Where this is not possible apply the mitigation hierarchy and implement actions or remedies that address residual adverse effects to restore or improve livelihoods and standards of living of displaced people.
- Implement, based on risk, a human rights and security approach consistent with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.
- Respect the rights of workers by: not employing child or forced labour; avoiding human trafficking; not assigning hazardous/dangerous work to those under 18; eliminating all forms of harassment and discrimination; respecting freedom of association and collective bargaining; and providing an appropriate mechanism to address workers grievances.
- Equitably remunerate employees with wages that equal or exceed legal requirements or represent a competitive wage within that job market (whichever is higher) and assign regular and overtime working hours within legally required limits.
- Respect the rights, interests, aspirations, culture and natural resource-based livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples in project design, development and operation; apply the mitigation hierarchy to address adverse impacts and; deliver sustainable benefits for Indigenous Peoples.
- Work to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples where significant adverse impacts are likely to occur, as a result of relocation, disturbance of lands and territories or of critical cultural heritage, and capture the outcomes of engagement and consent processes in agreements.
- Implement policies and practices to respect the rights and interests of women that reflect gender-informed approaches to work practices and job design, and that protect against all forms of discrimination and harassment, and behaviours that adversely impact on women’s successful participation in the workplace.
- Implement policies and practices to respect the rights and interests of all workers and improve workforce representation in the workplace so it is more inclusive.
We apply ICMM’s guidance on:
- Human Rights in the Mining and Metals Industry: Integrating Human Rights Due Diligence into Corporate Risk Management Processes (2012)
- Community Development Toolkit (2012)
- Indigenous Peoples Position Statement (2013)
- Good Practice Guide: Indigenous Peoples and Mining (2015)
- Handling and Resolving Local-level Concerns and Grievances (2019)
- Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (2020)
As a member of the World Gold Council (WGC), we are required to implement and publicly report and assure our performance against its Responsible Gold Mining Principles, particularly:
Human rights and conflict: we will respect the human rights of our workforce, affected communities and all those people with whom we interact
- UN Guiding Principles: We will adopt and implement policies, practices and systems based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
- Avoiding complicity: We will seek to ensure that we do not cause, and are not complicit in, human rights abuses either directly or through our business relationships.
- Security and human rights: We will manage security-related human rights risks through implementation of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.
- Conflict: We will implement the Conflict-Free Gold Standard. We will ensure that when we operate in conflict affected or high-risk areas our operations do not cause, support or benefit unlawful armed conflict or contribute to human rights abuses or breaches of international humanitarian law.
We interact with peers on human rights in the WGC Environment Social and Governance (ESG) Taskforce and Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) Working Group.
National industry associations in our countries of operation also address human rights and we participate actively in these forms.
Management Actions
We have refreshed and rolling our our e-learning human rights training to equip all our employees with a sound understanding of human rights, how these rights affect our company and stakeholders, and empower our people to uphold these rights.
We conduct ongoing human rights due diligence by adding a human rights lens to our company wide risk management processes across the lifecycle of mining that include audits, environmental and social impact assessments and legal due diligence informing investment decisions, employee surveys, internal audits, internal control and assurance systems for policy compliance, mine-community relationship assessments, country risk assessments. Our sites also apply a human rights due diligence tool focused on issues of relevance to our business such as resettlement, ASM, indigenous peoples, and gender. Key findings from this assessment are that:
- all operations have a low probability of adverse human rights impact, and no operation was identified as having a high probability of adverse human rights impact
- physical and psychological safety, as well as procurement and gender issues, have a medium probability for adverse impact at most operations.
We also conduct independent, standalone human rights impact assessments as relevant such as regarding tailings storage facilities and workplace safety. These processes are underpinned by stakeholder engagement providing insights into the concerns of our stakeholders.
All stakeholders in the supply chain are screened monthly according to predefined risk metrics that include human rights. An interactive Third-Party Due Diligence Gateway enables our procurement teams to assess actual, potential, or perceived risks of procuring products and services. Based on the nature and extent of the assessed risk, we shall engage with the stakeholder and collaborate to address identified concerns. If the risk cannot be mitigated, we shall not enter into a business relationship.
We have internal grievance mechanisms in place to ensure employees and contractors can raise human rights concerns. Grievances are handled by Gold Fields' HR function in consultation with legal teams. A confidential third-party whistleblowing hotline is in place for stakeholders. These mechanisms will be reviewed in 2023 in response to learnings from our workforce culture review.
We are committed to addressing community issues and concerns relating to our operations timeously and effectively, where possible. We rely on an external grievance reporting system to maintain confidence and transparent communication with our stakeholders. This mechanism enables and encourages community members to voice their complaints freely, while obligating our mines to address the grievances within an agreed period. Where our team is not able to resolve grievances, they are escalated to independent mediation.
Performance in 2022
Workforce
- We have a 2030 diversity target of 30% female representation. We achieved 23% Group-wide representation during 2022, and continue to drive and report on additional diversity and inclusion indicators
- We conducted an independent review of gender and ethnicity (South Africa) pay parity and are addressing the findings
- We adopted recognised living wage methodologies for our countries of operation, and publicly committed to pay all employees a living wage
- To address adverse findings from the extensive employee surveys we undertook in 2022, we introduced culture, leadership and operating model strategic initiative
- We started an independent, Group-wide review to identify additional measures for safe, inclusive and respectful workplace environments
Community
- No resettlement was undertaken at our operations
- We continued the roll-out of our ASM Strategy at our Ghanaian operations
- Our Australian sites aligned their plans with the Region's revised Aboriginal Engagement Strategy and Cultural Heritage Management Standard by developing detailed engagement and cultural see heritage management plans
- Our operations dealt with 92 (2021: 65) grievances lodged by our communities, of which 16 related to jobs and procurement, 29 to social and 48 to environmental-related issues. We resolved 84% of these grievances within the agreed timeframes. The grievances that took longer to resolve mostly concerned our contractors and suppliers.
Suppliers
- We registered our second Modern Slavery Compliance Statement with the Australia Federal Government
- All active supply chain stakeholders were screened. 1 072 (2021: 1 148) stakeholders with potential risk flags were identified of which 15% (2021: 19%) were confirmed following assessment. Human rights and related violations represented less than 0.5% of the risk flags. An internal Screening Risk Calculator has been completed and maintained for all stakeholders with a confirmed risk flag status, representing 2% (2021: 2%) of all screened stakeholders.
Security
- There were no incidents of human rights abuse by private security or public law enforcement at our operations
- All Gold Fields and private security contractors received human rights training during the induction process and at least annually thereafter, including the VPSHR
- There were 32 illegal mining incidents at our Ghana operations – all minor in nature – which were resolved peacefully in accordance with our ASM Strategy and our VPSHR commitment
Our Stakeholders and Partners
Stakeholders are an integral part of Gold Fields’ business, representing a wide range of rights and interests that both influence and are impacted by our business and operations. Ensuring that our stakeholders’ interests are appropriately represented, considered and acted upon is critical to achieving our Purpose of creating enduring value beyond mining. This Purpose, together with our Vision of being the preferred gold mining company, delivering sustainable, superior value, requires us to develop strong relationships with our stakeholders, built on open, transparent, and meaningful engagement.
For engagement to be meaningful, it must have mutual respect and trust at its core, and allow for participative and informed decision-making, balancing our stakeholders’ interests, needs and expectations with our own. This balance is also reflected in our approach to shared value, with a commitment to achieving outcomes that are mutually beneficial.
We commit to:
- undertake respectful, inclusive and culturally appropriate engagement processes
- apply culturally appropriate engagement processes with communities and other key stakeholders, that also ensures meaningful and fair participation of Indigenous Peoples in decisions impacting them
- timely, on-going and inclusive engagement with stakeholders through appropriate processes that provide a platform for dialogue, understanding stakeholder views and understanding our impacts on those around us
- provide effective grievance mechanisms for communities in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
- work to obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of communities in accordance with the ICMM Position Statement on Indigenous People and Mining, including where projects are located on lands traditionally owned or under customary use by Indigenous Peoples and are likely to have significant adverse impacts on Indigenous Peoples
- undertake comprehensive analysis of our stakeholders, and understand their rights and interests and the intersection with our business activities
- work collaboratively with stakeholders to mitigate and manage risks and impacts as well as explore and seek to realise opportunities
- provide appropriate and effective feedback and grievance mechanisms
The following are regarded as our key stakeholders, across the Group:
- Our Employees;
- Our Business partners, contractors and suppliers;
- Our Host communities;
- Indigenous Peoples and their representatives.
Reporting and Disclosure
Gold Fields Human Rights risks and performance are monitored, reported and transparently. This includes but is not limited to:
- GRI
- ICMM Performance Expectations Report
- WGC Conflict-Free Gold Report
- Integrated Annual Report suite including Report to Stakeholders; and
- Local, regional and international selected stakeholder platforms.
The Company’s approach and commitment to Human Rights is publicly disclosed on the Gold Fields website.
Case Study
Shift the leading center of expertise on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as part of its Valuing Respect Project, a collaborative initiative to redefine evaluation of business respect for huma rights – has published a case study on Using Relationship Data to Improve Business Practices: Measuring company-community relationships Gold Fields South Deep mine in recognition of steps the company has taken to improve its practices based on the insight from community shared in the assessment https://shiftproject.org/recourse/case-study-goldfields/