By Nevsun,
Over the past several years, Nevsun and the Government of Eritrea have partnered to make the Bisha Mine a local and national success story. And today, we are announcing the release of the 2012 corporate social responsibility report.
The corporate social responsibility report outlines our commitment to enhancing the lives of local Eritreans through meaningful employment and business opportunities. We are accountable to ensure that the Bisha Mine be managed in a safe and responsible manner that respects the interests of the local communities, workers, national governance, stakeholders, and the natural environment. Our desire to maintain a long term social license to operate a profitable business enables a win-win for our host communities and for our investors.
We strive to provide a continuous positive difference to the communities in where we operate in by providing meaningful employment and training opportunities. We promote open dialogue from all stakeholders on improving our workplace processes. We do not tolerate any violations of human rights. This applies to everyone including employees, contractors, subcontractors or affiliates.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPORT
- Safety record: zero accidents and zero harm;
- Employees: fair treatment, benefits, satisfaction, training centre, human rights;
- Government and government related remittances: $358 million;
- Environment: land remediation efforts, biodiversity, water, waste, hazardous materials, mine closure planning;
- Community: local purchasing and local employment.
The range of benefits we provide to employees at Bisha are as follows:
ABOVE AVERAGE WAGES – Our Eritrean employees are paid higher wages than the national average and were just provided with an annual base salary increase of 5.0% for 2013. There is no difference between basic salary/remuneration of women compared to that of men. The same salary scale applies to all employees irrespective of gender. For full-time individuals whom live in the nearby villages, a housing allowance is provided as well. Expatriates are provided competitive international salaries and annual bonuses based on their specialist skill set. The company does not provide a defined benefit plan to employees;
MEALS AND LODGING – All employees are provided with three full meals a day with unlimited rations. Healthy choices are served which include chicken, beef, pork, or fish dishes with salads, fruit, breads and different types of desert options. Purified water, fruit juices, tea, and coffee are also readily available. For all of our employees that reside on-site, there is no charge for accommodation. These housing facilities include a private or shared large bedroom with private bathrooms, furniture, air-conditioning, mosquito netting, television, and internet service. Laundry services are daily and free of charge to all employees. Employees also have access to the on-site gym as well as numerous recreational activities;
MEDICAL SERVICES – All of our employees as well as contractors and subcontractors receive free medical services from our internationally trained Eritrean medical staff. The medical facility is located right near our administration office and can be accessed throughout the day and any nighttime emergencies. The medical facility also has a standby ambulance available for more serious injuries that need to be treated off-site. In addition, all of our permanent and temporary employees have life insurance coverage;
MATERNITY LEAVE – All maternity costs are reimbursable at a rate of 100% upon presentation of the hospital bills, medical certificate and receipts. We provide our female employees with paid leave off for 5 days before and 5 days after delivery and 60 days thereafter;
TO/FROM HOME – Our workers come from far and wide and as such we provide free transportation to/from the capital city of Asmara to the Bisha mine site some 4 hours away. In addition, we provide daily bus transportation to/from nearby villages and camp locations to the work site several times a day. This enables our employees, contractors, and subcontractors to get to the work place in a safe and reliable manner. Our buses have comfortable seats and air-conditioning and we have numerous buses to avoid any issue of overcrowding. Several of the buses carry workers to their respective camp locations during lunch hours where workers enjoy a 1-2 hour break in the middle of the day; and
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT – All of our workers have the ability to grow and prosper at our operations. We have undertaken training courses at our operation and in a nearby community to build up local capacity. We will have our new trade school completed in 2013 to provide even more opportunities for classroom and field based experiences to enable employee growth.
Click here to read “Nevsun’s 2012 Corporate Social Responsibility Report”
