Safety and Health

Our vision is zero harm to those who work within our operations and to those around us. We believe that all injuries and occupational illnesses are preventable. We will ensure that safety standards are consistently applied across
our operations, we will be rigorous in learning from incidents and in preventing recurrences.

Environment

Our vision for the environment recognises the centrality of good stewardship in minimising the impact of our activities from exploration through to mine closure. We will plan mines from the outset with a view to managing
the environmental and social impacts of decommissioning and closure. We will conserve and protect the environment through: the efficient use of natural resources, including energy and water, and minimising
waste. We recognise the importance of using land and water with proper consideration for the needs of others. We will demonstrate active stewardship of land, freshwater systems and biodiversity. We recognise the challenge posed by climate change at both a global and local level. We are committed to improving the efficiency of our energy use and to seeking to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. We will participate in research and development programmes to address climate change and explore opportunities for using market-based emission reduction mechanisms.

Segurança é um valor para a Anglo American. Investir nesse valor e torná-lo presente em cada ação dos empregados é uma das principais missões da empresa. Para isso, em parceria com o Departamento de Engenharia de Minas e de Petróleo da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo – PMI/Poli/USP, a empresa investiu R$ 3,5 milhões para desenvolver, em 2008, uma nova metodologia de treinamento em segurança. O Programa de Gerenciamento de Risco de Segurança foi responsável por educar 470 empregados da Anglo American no Brasil em um período de três anos, com um total de 25 turmas. Para comemorar essa conquista, a Anglo American anunciou, no encerramento do treinamento da última turma de 2010, a divulgação do curso para as demais organizações do país.

“O Programa de Gerenciamento de Risco de Segurança é um curso de extrema importância para qualquer empresa, independentemente da área em que atua, por isso, a Anglo American decidiu compartilhar este recurso para as outras empresas. Esse curso serve para mudar o modo como as pessoas pensam. É uma reeducação”, afirma John Landmark, diretor de Exploração da Anglo American Brasil e um dos criadores do programa.

O curso foi criado pela Anglo American em 2008, em parceria com 10 universidades do Chile, Brasil, África do Sul, Canadá, Estados Unidos, Austrália e Reino Unido – todas trabalham em conjunto para garantir a melhor forma de treinamento em segurança. Em todas as operações da empresa, 4.500 pessoas foram treinadas, 470 só no Brasil.

“Para a Unidade Níquel esse número é bastante significativo, parte dele representa o treinamento da liderança de todos os setores da Anglo American / Níquel. Para 2011, esperamos treinar um número ainda maior até conquistarmos 100% de nossos empregados. Nós, da Anglo American, queremos que cada um de nossos empregados volte para casa diariamente sem nenhuma lesão e sabemos que é possível”, enfatiza Walter De Simoni, presidente da Unidade Níquel.

Outra novidade é que, no Brasil, será lançada a Sala de Tele-Ensino na Poli/USP, para que o curso seja ministrado. A Anglo American Brasil e a Universidade de São Paulo firmaram uma parceria onde a mineradora, fornece todo o conteúdo do curso além dos equipamentos necessários. Duas empresas do setor de mineração já estão com as datas marcadas para iniciar os treinamentos, que não devem se restringir apenas a este segmento, mas atingir também as petrolíferas, indústrias químicas e empresas de construção civil.

De acordo com Landmark, o grande diferencial do curso é a unificação global da linguagem de segurança e gestão de riscos. Por isso, qualquer empregado de qualquer planta de qualquer operação do mundo é capaz de compreender os ensinamentos. “Para a Anglo American, este programa é importante porque, além de instituir as regras para uma visão Zero Lesão, é o primeiro a unir toda a empresa em uma só – One Anglo. Merece destaque também o fato de o treinamento ter contribuído, nesses últimos anos, para menos acidentes e menos fatalidades”, destaca o diretor.

“Nossa diretriz de Segurança investe em três pilares fundamentais e diferentes que, juntos, garantem a produção segura e a eficiência operacional. O primeiro deles é o treinamento e capacitação de nossos empregados. O segundo é a disponibilização de equipamentos e infraestrutura adequados e seguros, E, por fim, existem os sistemas de gestão, com procedimentos e técnicas bem desenhadas e implementadas. A disseminação desta filosofia de segurança dentro e fora da empresa permitirá a criação de uma cultura em que a segurança será um valor para cada um de nós”, explica Walter De Simoni.

Segundo Stephan Weber, presidente da Anglo American Minério de Ferro, a iniciativa da Anglo American, além de estar alinhada com uma política interna de prevenção de incidentes, reflete a necessidade de mudar a imagem da atividade de mineração no mundo, geralmente associada a incidentes.

“Devemos sempre lembrar que segurança é algo que se conquista no dia a dia, e isto requer o envolvimento de todos os nossos empregados. A preocupação com a segurança deve ser constante, e o gerenciamento dos riscos deve fazer parte da rotina de cada um. O esforço em busca de Zero Lesão é uma meta que só será atingida com liderança, união e trabalho em equipe”, diz Alexandre Gomes, diretor de Segurança e Desenvolvimento Sustentável da Anglo American Minério de Ferro.

Os Modelos de Gestão de Risco e Segurança da Anglo American:

A Anglo American desenvolve seu Modelo de Gestão Risco e Segurança com base em dois sistemas: o Anglo Safety Way (sistema de gestão de segurança) e o Anglo Health Way, (sistema de gestão de saúde ocupacional). Eles estão compostos por diferentes padrões que envolvem: as Regras de Ouro de Segurança (condutas obrigatórias), o Programa de Gerenciamento de Riscos de Segurança (para identificar as condições perigosas, avaliar o risco,e controlar eventos não desejados), o Programa de Liderança Visível e Percebida (que ensina os líderes a darem o exemplo de comportamento seguro) e o Fatal Risks Standards (protocolos de riscos fatais), entre outros procedimentos.

Simply put, extensive reading means reading widely on a constant basis to:

• develop your general reading skills;
• become fluent in reading;
• notice language patterns; and
• expand your vocabulary.

Instead, extensive reading requires you to read materials that are at your level of understanding. It emphasizes general comprehension (e.g. understanding a story as a whole instead of certain sentences). It emphasizes the fun and enjoyment of reading in a second language.

HOW CAN “EXTENSIVE READING” IMPROVE MY ENGLISH?

Studies have proved that extensive reading really helps students improve their English.

By reading widely and constantly, you are exposed to a lot of language. When you are in constant contact with the language, you will start noticing and learning the patterns in the language. This will improve your grammar skills.

Also, you can learn how words and expressions are being used in different contexts. By encountering words in different contexts, you will be able to remember and use the words more easily. This will expand your vocabulary.

Because the materials for extensive reading are easy, they provide excellent chances for the development of fluent eye movements (fluent reading), leading to faster reading and better reading skills.

As you are reading at your own ability level, you will be able to enjoy reading more. You will become a more confident and motivated reader. Confidence and motivation are two important factors in successful language learning.

WHAT SHOULD I READ?

There are “graded readers” by major publishers that are excellent materials for extensive reading. (See Appendix below for sites of publishers that sell graded readers.)

Graded readers are “small books” which are novels, non-fictions, biographies, etc. simplified especially for English learners. They are graded into different levels (e.g. Level 1 -6, Level 1 being the lowest level).

As there are many different genres of graded readers to choose from, you can most definitely find some books that interest you.

HOW DO I KNOW WHICH “LEVEL” I AM AT?

Different publishers graded their graded readers somewhat differently. However, all graded readers indicate the number of headwords for each level. Use the following rough guideline to determine your level:

*may differ depending on the publisher

For example, if your TOEIC score is 600, then probably you can read graded readers which contain 1800-2300 headwords.

Another way to find out your level is by experimenting. Go to a bookstore that sells graded readers. Browse through several levels of graded readers. Read through a page – if you are struggling to understand the meaning and if there are more than 4-5 words that you don’t know in a page, then probably that level is too difficult for you. In other words, you should choose a level that you feel comfortable with. Don’t force yourself to read books that are too difficult for you.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I READ?

As often as you possibly can! The more you read, the faster your English skills will improve. Try to read every day.

source: Second Nature Online English

He said those who want to become English teachers should ultimately try to become designers and evaluators who can provide useful and effective feedback in a caring, noncompetitive environment.

He said he has seen “dramatic transformations” in many Korean students and teacher candidates when they are pushed to perform in a caring environment with appropriate context and feedback.

The professor received a Ph.D. in applied linguistics from the University of Dublin – Trinity College in Ireland, and has been teaching for 15 years in Korea, Germany, and Singapore.

The following is an excerpt from an e-mail interview.

Korea Herald: In your teaching experience in Korea, one of the key issues for Korea`s English education?

Stephen van Vlack: By far the most important issue for English education in Korea is that of goals. Clearly defined and realistic goals need to be established at all educational levels including the post-tertiary level and these goals at different levels must relate to each other. Goals provide the basic mapping system for the entire learning experience.

It is from the consideration of goals that we develop assessment tools, create and define materials, and decide approaches and techniques are going to be used in the classroom. Without clearly defined goals both students and teachers are lost. It`s like swimming in circles and if one spends their whole time swimming in circles they`re eventually going to get tired and sink.

KH: What strategy do you recommend for Korean students want to improve their English proficiency in general?

SV: One simple strategy which is doable in Korea and has a great potential is that of simply reading. Many study English but they don`t actually read. Taking the language out of context makes it very difficult to learn it well. Since Koreans are highly literate and there is a virtually unlimited amount of authentic texts available to Koreans, then reading is something which is certainly possible. The idea is that people should read as much as they can from various types of sources. The most important is not the length but the authenticity of the reading texts. Through reading one can learn structural aspects of grammar in a meaningful interesting way, provided when they have chosen their own reading texts. We read ultimately to get information, to be entertained. If we can combine this type of entertainment with language learning through reading then one may end up learning a lot.

KH: Would you elaborate on learning strategies for students depending on the proficiency level?

SV: The most important thing for beginners is vocabulary. In order to be able to get themselves to the next stage in the developmental process, beginning level students need a large number of vocabulary items in their mental lexicon. There`s a fundamental distinction between being able to recognize a word and being able to use a word, and beginning level students need to focus on both.

Intermediate level learners tend to have difficulty controlling their language. The area that they need to focus on is that of accurately producing and recognizing larger strings of linguistic code. Rather than just focusing on words they need to focus on phrases and clauses. Intermediate learners also need to develop a feel for how the target language patterns itself. Becoming familiar with these patterns allows people to not only listen to longer texts but also allows these learners to be able to produce longer and more complex texts.

Advanced level learners need to focus on the different functions for which languages are used and how each language deals with the specific functions. An example of a function would be something like making a formal complaint. Once one gets to the advanced level they are expected to perform with language and all linguistic performance is organized around functions.

KH: What advice would you want to give the green parents who want to raise their children as bilingual speakers here?

SV: It is generally claimed that a child in a simultaneous bilingual development type of situation needs a minimum of 40 percent of their input to be in one language in order to develop as a bilingual. This is a lot of input. It is also important to realize that this 40 percent needs to be continuous. Children forget faster than they learn, so taking Korean children overseas for a certain period of time and then bringing them back to Korea without much English input will not have an enduring effect for bilingual development.

The most important thing is to try to keep up the child`s English development. This means that a child needs continuous and continuously changing input. It`s important that children are asked to do different things in both of their languages and that new responsibilities (tasks) are given to them. This may be difficult to do in Korea for the English language but an inventive parent will find ways of immersing their child in English. Don`t seesaw back and forth from one language to the other. Both languages need to be continually developed and this relates specifically to literacy skills. Literacy development is a large milestone on the path to bilinguality. It is important to make sure that the child achieves a high degree of functional literacy in both languages.

KH: What should English teachers or teacher candidates here due to better help train students improve their English proficiency?

SV: The most important thing for a teacher is to create environments where students need to do things using the target language (English). Having done this, the teacher needs to make sure that she or he guides the students through the process of using language by providing carefully regulated feedback in a caring, noncompetitive environment.

Teachers can`t make students learn a language. The teacher`s job is to create scenarios and to regulate these scenarios for optimal potential learning. Feedback is absolutely essential when we are trying to get students to produce language. Without feedback students will not know how well they perform the task and what they did well (which they can do again) and what they didn`t do so well (which they won`t do it again). Teachers should ultimately be designers and evaluators with a valuation focusing not on scoring but on providing useful and effective feedback so the students can move forward in their learning.

KH: What are the most memorable episodes in your teaching experience in Korea?

SV: One thing that never ceases to surprise me is just how important our experiences with the language may be. As a general trend my students tend to be disappointed with her overseas experiences. They either did not learn as much as they hoped to learn or they actually came back with bad feelings about the target language country, at least in some aspects. As a result of this, I`m left with the impression that we have not prepared our students well for the rigors of using language in authentic international situations.

To function in such situations one needs to not only be flexible but needs to be systematically flexible according to context and in the decontextualized situations in which we often teach in Korea such skills do not develop well.

On the other hand, it is always rewarding to see how quickly and effectively students are able to adapt to new situations when they are created in the classroom. I have seen dramatic transformations over short periods of time when students are pushed to perform in a caring environment with appropriate context and feedback. There are things that we can do in this Korean setting which they can`t get overseas and in a full immersion type of setting.

The professor can be reached at his homepage (http://udveksling.com)

Interview by  Yang Sung-jin

• imagine a scene in your head
• understand clearly what the writer is trying to say
• agree or disagree with the writer

Advantages of Reading
When you learn a language, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. There are many advantages associated with reading, including:

Learning Vocabulary In Context
You will usually encounter new words when you read. If there are too many new words for you, then the level is too high and you should read something simpler. But if there are, say, a maximum of five new words per page, you will learn this vocabulary easily. You may not even need to use a dictionary because you can guess the meaning from the rest of the text (from the context). Not only do you learn new words, but you see them being used naturally.

A Model For Writing
When you read, it gives you a good example for writing. Texts that you read show you structures and expressions that you can use when you write.

Seeing “Correctly Structured” English
When people write, they usually use “correct” English with a proper grammatical structure. This is not always true when people speak. So, by reading you see and learn grammatical English naturally.

Working At Your Own Speed
You can read as fast or as slowly as you like. You can read ten pages in 30 minutes, or take one hour to explore just one page. It doesn’t matter. The choice is yours. You cannot easily do this when speaking or listening. This is one of the big advantages of reading because different people work at different speeds.

Personal Interest
If you choose something to read that you like, it can actually be interesting and enjoyable. For example, if you like to read about football in your own language, why not read about football in English? You will get information about football and improve your English at the same time.

Five Tips for Reading

Tip #1
Try to read at the right level. Read something that you can (more or less) understand. If you need to stop every three words to look in a dictionary, it is not interesting for you and you will soon be discouraged.

Tip #2
Make a note of new vocabulary. If there are four or five new words on a page, write them in your vocabulary book. But you don’t have to write them while you read. Instead, try to guess their meaning as you read; mark them with a pen; then come back when you have finished reading to check in a dictionary and add them to your vocabulary book.

Tip #3
Try to read regularly. For example, read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes every day is better than two hours every Sunday. Fix a time to read and keep to it. For example, you could read for fifteen minutes when you go to bed, or when you get up, or at lunchtime.

Tip #4
Be organised. Have everything ready:

• something to read
• a marker to highlight difficult words
• a dictionary
• your vocabulary book
• a pen to write down the new words

Tip #5
Read what interests YOU. Choose a magazine or book about a subject that you like.

Things to Read

Newspapers
You can find English-language newspapers in all large cities around the world. Newspapers are interesting because they are about real life and the news. BUT they are not easy to read. Try reading newspapers if your level is intermediate or above.

Some British newspapers:

• The Telegraph
• The Times
• The Independent
• The Guardian
• The Financial Times (business)
• The Sunday Times

Some American newspapers:

• The International Herald Tribune
• The New York Times
• The Wall Street Journal (business)

Magazines
Some magazines are published weekly, some monthly. You can find English-language magazines in many large cities around the world. If you cannot find the magazine you want in your town, you may be able to order it for delivery. Many magazines have pictures which can help your understanding. You will need an intermediate level for most magazines, but a pre-intermediate level may be ok for some magazines.

There are magazines on every subject:

• Politics
• Sport
• The House
• Cars
• Music
• Romance
• Travel
• Language
• etc

Books
Books are divided mainly into:

• Non-fiction (history, biography, travel, cooking etc)
• Fiction (stories and novels)

Some books are easier to read than others. It often depends on the author. Agatha Christie, for example, wrote in an easier style and with simpler vocabulary than Stephen King. You can buy books in specialised English-language bookshops in large cities around the world. You may also be able to find some English-language books in libraries. And if you have a British Council in your city, you can borrow many English-language books from their library.

Short Stories
Short stories can be a good choice when learning a language because they are…short. It’s like reading a whole book in a few pages. You have all the excitement of a story in a book, but you only have to read 5,000 or 10,000 words. So you can quite quickly finish the story and feel that you have achieved something. Short stories are published in magazines, in books of short stories, and on the Internet. You can also find short stories at englishclub.com English Reading.

Readers
Readers are books that are specially published to be easy to read. They are short and with simple vocabulary. They are usually available at different levels, so you should be able to find the right level for you. Many readers are stories by famous authors in simple form. This is an excellent way for you to start practising reading.

Cornflakes Packets
By “Cornflakes Packets”, we mean any product you can buy that has English writing on or with it. If you buy a box of chocolates, or a new camera, why not read the description or instructions in English? There are many such examples, and they all give you an opportunity to read real English:

• airline tickets
• cans or packets of food
• bottles of drink
• tapes and CDs
• user guides for videos, computers…
• etc

Poetry
If you like poetry, try reading some English-language poems. They may not be easy to understand because of the style and vocabulary, but if you work at it you can usually get an idea – or a feeling – of what the poet is trying to say. You’ll find some classic poems, with explanations of vocabulary, at englishclub.com English Reading.
Good luck with your reading. It will help you make a lot of Progress!

by  Josef Essberger (c) 2000

Good readers can understand the individual sentences and the organizational structure of a piece of writing. They can comprehend ideas, follow arguments, and detect implications. They know most of the words in the text already, but they can also determine the meaning of many of the unfamiliar words from the context – failing this, they can use their dictionary effectively to do so. In summary, good readers can extract from the writing what is important for the particular task they are employed in. And they can do it quickly!

Educational researchers have also found a strong correlation between reading and vocabulary knowledge. In other words, students who have a large vocabulary are usually good readers. This is not very surprising, since the best way to acquire a large vocabulary is to read extensively, and if you read extensively you are likely to be or become a good reader!

It is a well-known fact that when there were no televisions or computers, reading was a primary leisure activity. People would spend hours reading books and travel to lands far away-in their minds. The only tragedy is that, with time, people have lost their skill and passion to read. There are many other exciting and thrilling options available, aside from books. And that is a shame because reading offers a productive approach to improving vocabulary and word power. It is advisable to indulge in at least half an hour of reading a day to keep abreast of the various styles of writing and new vocabulary.

Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes. Reading is an activity that involves

greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader. It is an indulgence that enhances the knowledge acquired, consistently. The habit of reading also helps readers to decipher new words and phrases that they come across in everyday conversations. The habit can become a healthy addiction and adds to the information available on various topics. It helps us to stay in-touch with contemporary writers as well as those from the days of yore and makes us sensitive to global issues.

So, what are you waiting for? Let’s Read!