By Own Correspondent

A DIVERSIFIED miner, RioZim has sustained a record of zero fatalities amid plans to sustain workers welfare going into the future, the miner’s recent report has revealed.

The document observes that human capital remains at the forefront in driving the group’s strategic direction and propelling the company to greater heights.

“In this regard, the group prides itself in the work commitment and work ethic of its employees in driving the operations of the Group despite various challenges brought about by the harsh economic environment coupled with negative effects of COVID-19,” the report said.

In line with the philosophy, RioZim therefore, continues to prioritise the welfare of its employees in order to not only retain its key skills but also to attract new talent to boost and diversify the skills pool across all our operations.

“During the just ended year, staff complement grew by 15% in the current year to 3 180 employees compared to a staff complement of 2 769 from the prior year.

“Skills development is also our key focus to upgrade our employees in the various disciplines, therefore various training programmes for our employees are implemented both internally and externally for this purpose,” the report said.

Graduate traineeship, apprenticeships and on the job attachments offered  to students recruited from various tertiary institutions, vocational training centres, colleges and universities across the country continues to progress.

“During the year under review, there were no fatalities recorded across all the operations, however, there was retrogression on the number of Lost Time Injuries (LTIs) which increased from 5 in the prior year to 12 in the current year.

“The increase in the number of Lost Time Injuries was mainly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic which limited employee interaction hence control measures such as training, on the job observations and planned inspections were not fully implemented. All the other leading safety indicators were with target specifications,” said RioZim.

During the year, the group also undertook various interventions during the second half of the year when the pandemic had subsided to curb LTIs which included internal auditing of the integrated management system and Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) Representatives training at Cam & Motor Mine.

“The group will continue to ensure adequate controls are available to maintain employee safety,” added RioZim.