6.2.5 Supportive work environment
Gold Fields strives to create an environment that allows employees to function optimally, taking into account their holistic wellbeing to ensure a safe, healthy, balanced and productive workforce. This includes taking an integrated view of the employee, both during and outside of work hours, including their financial, mental and physical wellbeing, as well as things like nutrition, housing and living conditions, stress and fatigue management and optimal job fit.
The wellbeing needs of employees differ between regions and programmes are therefore implemented at a regional level to deal with challenges specific to each employee group.
All regions have comprehensive wellness programmes in place. In 2015, Peru invested US$600,000 upgrading camp facilities at Cerro Corona. This included the construction of expanded gym facilities, an indoor sports centre, a recreation area with barbeque facilities and construction of additional rooms. Peru also offers employees a range of extramural activities and classes.
In Ghana, a new staff recreation centre was constructed at Tarkwa to benefit all employees, while the staff hospital at Tarkwa, which is also used by community members, was refurbished and placed under a new local management company.
In Australia, supportive work arrangements focus both on the camps in which employees live as well as the fly in and fly out arrangements. While the roster arrangements have remained stable over the past few years – for most employees that is 14 days at work and 10 days off – or eight days at work and six days off, Gold Fields has successfully negotiated better flight arrangements and aircraft at some of its sites. Similarly, the camp sites have been upgraded and Wi-Fi access rolled-out at all camps. Fatigue management was a critical element of our wellness strategy in Australia last year and St Ives changed its working hours to reduce the fatigue risk at the mine.
In South Africa, accommodation for mine employees is regulated under the Mining Charter. We have met all the relevant conditions including a requirement that each South Deep employee resident in our hostels must have his or her own room – this was achieved in December 2014 after a R150 million investment in a hostel upgrade programme creating 848 single accommodation and 203 family units. We are also finalising a housing acquisition and development programme – at a cost of around R346 million – through which around 850 houses in neighbouring districts will be made available to employees to purchase or lease.
A new home ownership scheme – Tswelopele – was launched following the finalisation of the South Deep wage agreement. It seeks to assist employees to rent these homes or buy them at a discounted purchase price.
The scheme benefits employees in the C-band and below, providing them with a R3,000 per month housing allowance for the first two years of the agreement, with an increase to R3,500 per month in the third year. This housing allowance can be used to pay rent in a South Deep-owned or approved house within a 50km radius of the mine, or to service a bond should they wish to purchase a house.
The Tswelopele scheme offers a R100,000 interest-free loan to qualifying employees to assist them in securing a bond. The scheme also supports employees through financial literacy training, borrower education, negotiation with banks for favourable bond interest rates, assistance with completion and submission of forms among others.
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 South Deep plant |