VOL. 07 | ISSUE 4 | December 2024
Chino team members were locked into the message at the recent Stand Down for Safety.
Global Stand Down for Safety Reveals Opportunities for Continuous Improvement
A recent company-wide Stand Down for Safety brought together employees and contractors from every level, every department and across the world with a single goal: Do better.
The stand down was prompted by various factors, including more than two dozen potentially fatal events during the past year, the tragic death of a contractor at a remediation site in October and a general upward trend in fatalities industrywide.
With every discussion about safety incidents, it became clear to leaders that the best way to move forward was simply to stop — stop and listen.
From North America to Indonesia and everywhere in between, employees from across the company moved swiftly to make the global stand down a reality, making sure to reach all employees and contract workers. The goal was to have meaningful conversations about current safety performance, reinforce the focus on hazard recognition and remind employees of the company’s safety commitment.
“We don’t have a business at Freeport unless we keep our people safe,” President and Chief Executive Officer Kathleen Quirk said at the recent Health and Safety Summit in Phoenix. “We owe it to the people who come to work every single day to have a safe atmosphere.”
We don’t have a business at Freeport unless we keep our people safe. We owe it to the people who come to work every single day to have a safe atmosphere.
Employees and contractors at Morenci (top photo) and Henderson participate in the global Stand Down for Safety.
The stand down wasn’t just an opportunity to discuss hazards and safety with employees. It was also an opportunity for employees to provide valuable insight and feedback to company leadership. Some of the key takeaways shared from across Freeport operations included:
- Reinforcement that every Freeport employee and contractor has the ability and obligation – as well as support of company leadership – to stop work over safety concerns.
- On multiple occasions, employees brought existing safety concerns to light during the standdown, and the sites moved to immediately address those concerns.
- Site leaders committed to working on new procedures and mechanisms to capture additional feedback from employees.
- The company’s all-inclusive approach to the standdown – including all sites and contractors – helped reiterate safety as a core value at Freeport.
For many employees, this was the first company-wide stand down in their careers. While it had a big impact, one thing was clear – safety conversations can’t wait for corporate-wide events like the stand down. The need to be happening every day, with every crew. Only through continuous engagement will Freeport be able to achieve continuous improvement.