Women in Mining Safety Heroes

The list recognises and celebrates women in the South African mining industry who have made notable contributions in creating a safe work environment.  

Juvena supported the development and implementation of the Contractor Management System of Work (CMSW) process. The CMSW aims to deliver a step-change improvement in the effectiveness of South32’s end-to-end process for contractor management. This enables contractors to follow a standard and consistent approach to safety and includes monitoring and measuring legal compliance and confirming contractors have the necessary competencies and capabilities before accessing sites.  

Zanele has been recognised for her work leading the Health, Safety, Environment and Risk function at Hillside Aluminium. In FY24, she has been leading safety discussions with teams, asking people to reflect on whether they can guarantee both their safety and that of their colleagues when executing their role. These discussions contribute to building a strong safety culture that helps drive safety performance.  

Yogen has been recognised for her work leading the Competency Assurance Digital Enablement (CADE) project at Hotazel Manganese Mines. Yogen and her team developed and implemented an end-to-end digital solution to automate and simplify tasks and processes associated with competency and capability verification. Many of our sites use paper-based systems to manage employee and contractor competencies and permits to work. By creating an end-to-end digital solution, we can enhance safety by enabling verification and validation that people have the right qualifications, experience and skills, to implement controls to manage risks associated with competency.  

These three women, along with many others, are helping us to strengthen our safety performance at South32 by embedding safe and sustainable businesses practices throughout our business and work routines.