Background
Introduction
Methods
Step 1: Adapting HIA methods to assess extractive TNC operations
Health impact assessment
Selecting the extractive industry TNC
Step 2: Identifying potential impacts
Documents and websites
Media items
Semi-structured interviews
Step 3: Assessment of impacts
Results
Rio Tinto’s global operations
Rio Tinto’s political practices
Rio Tinto’s business practices
Corporate social responsibility
Rio Tinto’s Australian, South African, and Namibian operations
Demographic domain | Australia | South Africa | Namibia |
---|---|---|---|
Population (million) | 23.9 | 53.5 | 2.5 |
Life expectancy (OECD average 80.9 years) | 82.4 | 57.2 | 64 |
Unemployment rate | 6.1 | 26.7 | 28.1 |
Income inequality -Gini coefficient (OECD average 0.31) | 0.337 | 0.634 | 0.572 |
Relative poverty rate (OECD average 11.0) | 12.8 | 53.8 | 45.7 |
GDP per capita (000 $USD PPP) (OECD average 41.2) | 46.7 | 13.7 | 9 |
Tertiary education 25–64 years (OECD average 35.7) | 42.9 | 6.4 | < 10 |
Number of International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions ratified | 58 | 54 | 11 |
a) Fundamental | a) 7 of 8 | a) 8 of 8 | a) 8 of 8 |
b) Governance | b) 3 of 4 | b) 2 of 4 | b) 1 of 4 |
c) Technical | c) 48 of 177 | c)17 of 177 | c) 2 of 177 |
Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2017: | |||
Rank by country 1–89 | 13 | 71 | 53 |
Corruption Perception Index | (CPI - 77) | (CPI - 43) | (CPI - 51) |
World Bank: Regulatory Quality Perceptions of government ability to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations (2016 percentile rank 0–100) | 97.60 | 62.02 | 49.52 |
World Bank: Government Effectiveness Perceptions of quality of public / civil services and degree of independence from political pressures, quality of policy formulation / implementation, and credibility of government commitment. 2016 percentile rank 0–100 | 92.31 | 64.90 | 60.10 |
World Bank: Voice / Accountability Perceptions of the extent to which a country’s citizens are able to participate in selecting their government, as well as freedom of expression and association and a free media 2016 percentile rank 0–100 | 94.09 | 67.98 | 66.50 |
World Bank: Political stability and absence of violence Perceptions of the likelihood of political instability and/or politically motivated violence including terrorism 2016 percentile rank 0–100 | 81.90 | 42.38 | 70.00 |
World Bank: Rule of law Perceptions of the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules, quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, courts, and the likelihood of crime and violence 2016 percentile rank 0–100 | 95.19 | 58.17 | 64.42 |
World Bank: Control of corruption Perception of the extent to which public power is exercised for private gain including corruption and ‘capture’ by private interests 2016 percentile rank 0–100 | 93.27 | 65.87 | 64.42 |
Average Salary 2018 (world ranking): | US$88,275 [160] | US$47,046 [161] | US$22,927 [63] |
Purchasing power parity ranking comparison (per capita of GDP) | 15 | 91 | 115 |
Taxation practices
Lobbying governments
University collaboration and funding
Major health impacts of Rio Tinto operations
CHIA domain | Positive aspects | Negative aspects |
---|---|---|
Political and business practices |
Supply chain management
Requirements imposed by Rio Tinto on its global supply chain are likely to have positive health impacts for workers |
Political lobbying
Membership of representative organisations to influence public policy in ways unfavourable to health equity, while protecting corporate image |
Workforce and working conditions |
Provision of direct employment under decent working conditions
Low, and falling rates of illness and injury for direct employees A global ‘whistleblower’ program is available to workers and all stakeholders [stet]: Australia has a high proportion of Rio Tinto’s global workforce, with an inclusive approach for Indigenous and female workers. Southern Africa: Richards Bay Minerals is a major South African employer. |
Increase in precarious, lower-paid working conditions due to practices of contracting labour through third-party organisations
Legal responsibility for workers is reduced Adverse health impacts on contract workers not ‘visible’ in corporate reporting mechanisms. Increased worker incentives to work unsafely Complex corporate structure may impede union efforts to mediate negative working conditions. Australia: Most Australian workers are contracted through labour hire organisations. FIFO operations may have negative impacts on health and well-being Southern Africa: Contract workers lack the benefits of direct employees. Relatively worse working conditions for contracted workers in Southern Africa likely to have worse health impacts than for contracted workers in Australia, eg occupational injury rates. Recourse to legal measures to seek compensation for adverse impacts weaker than in Southern Africa |
Social conditions |
Rio Tinto provides some benefits to affected communities
Australia: Increased local Aboriginal participation in the Rio Tinto workforce Southern Africa: Richards Bay Minerals supports infrastructure, local procurement, skills and enterprise development, and joint ventures to facilitate skills transfer. The Rössing Foundation undertakes a broad range of community development activities. |
Rio Tinto operations impact negatively in mining localities
Australia: Relatively high miners’ wages can increase prices for goods and services in local communities. Negative community impacts from noise and air pollution from coal mining Psychological distress resulting from social disruption and environmental damage. Southern Africa: Migrant workers disrupt communities in vicinity of mining operations |
Environmental conditions | Commitment to upholding sustainable development principles Rio Tinto signed up to International Council on Mining and Metals principles for sustainable development Disclosures under the Global Reporting Index may support the Paris Agreement to reduce global warming Australia: Commitment made to progressively return the area of the Ranger Uranium mine to a viable ecosystem under government supervision. Southern AfricaRichards Bay Minerals monitors emissions for air quality. Rossing Uranium monitors dust levels on site and in nearby town. |
Environmental risk to health and lack of remediation
Failure to remediate large final voids leaves a negative environmental legacy. Divestment may result in avoidance of responsibility for site remediation or adverse impacts of environmental damage Australia: Aboriginal community concerns over negative impacts from spills, and breaches of licence conditions at the Ranger uranium mine. Southern AfricaWorkers at Rossing exposed to dust and radon gas. Air pollution, biodiversity loss and soil contamination at Richards Bay Minerals |
Economic conditions |
Contribution to national and local economies
Rio Tinto’s direct global economic contribution is made through payments to workers, suppliers, governments and community development programs. Australia: A high proportion of global taxation is paid in Australia Southern Africa: Richards Bay Minerals is the largest taxpayer in KwaZuluNatal. |
Business strategies impact on revenue for social investment
Profit shifting and/or tax reduction strategies reduce government revenues available for health and social investment. Economic costs of damage to environments and/or health are externalised to states and communities. Australia: Lobbying by the mining industry against the ‘mining tax’ and for fuel subsidies results in loss of government revenue available for public good purposes. |
Workforce and working conditions
Yes they have contract workers and the contract workers are dependent on the contractor … Rössing has not got the same obligations to contract workers as to their permanent workers and that makes it very difficult. They get exchanged quickly, they haven’t got medical aid, they haven’t got a pension fund and the Rössing workers have that.
Research by Farber et al. (2018) highlights the critical role of strong trade unions in mediating poor working conditions and inequality. These researchers found that over the last nine decades, when unions expand at either the national or state level, they tend to attract the membership of unskilled workers and increase their relative wages, thereby helping to address inequality [110]. Conversely, where so-called ‘right-to-work’ legislation has undermined the right to organise, occupational mortality has risen, illustrating the protective effect of unions on workplace safety [111].The question around contract labour becomes even more critical because that fundamentally undermines the foothold of organised labour. Organised labour can be a very powerful voice for both occupational health and safety and for community impacts if people are living in the area around the mines… And, also even though we may be upper middle income we are one of the countries with the greatest Gini Coefficient, so inequality inside our country. So, that also very much shapes the dynamic in the society…If you're sub-contracted then you're more vulnerable. You're certainly more vulnerable in terms of occupational health and safety.
In a 2014 study carried out with present and former Rössing workers, 39 of the 44 respondents complained of health problems and difficult working conditions causing back pain, breathing, hearing and visual problems. The biggest concern however was constant dust exposure. Most workers also stated they were not informed about their health conditions or exposure to radiation. While some workers consulted a private doctor for a second opinion, this is not an option that most workers can afford [113].They work eight hours in this toxic environment. There is such a lot of dust. They are blasting and they are moving and they are crushing and milling, so everywhere is dust. This dust is full of toxic particles and full of radioactive particles and we have background radiation.
Work, health and safety regulations across jurisdictions
Social conditions
I think in general economic terms, Rio Tinto’s involvement in Australia has been generally positive. In some instances there have certainly been very beneficial impacts upon the economic and social health of some of the communities in which they have operated.
One activist spoke of their efforts to be well-informed about Rio Tinto’s operations in order to advocate for the community; despite a strong sense of powerlessness:Solastalgia is the term, and he [psychologist] thinks it’s suffered by people and that’s what we’re feeling about [our town]. [Respondent reads aloud…] ‘Solastalgia is an emplaced or existential melancholia. It’s a negative transformation that is a desolation of a loved home environment’. That’s the way we’re feeling about our home.
We’ve become experts in fields that we never dreamt of being experts in…We know that we are in the right but the dealings of these multinational companies, they’re so powerful with the government and we just see that – you get that feeling that you just don’t matter. You feel like collateral damage basically.
We sleep with earplugs here. Our house is very, very dusty…so we are living in a very dusty environment…Our area has one of the highest asthma rates for 9-15 year olds in the state. It is pretty bad. We have dust monitors around. We often have toxic fumes go up after a blast.
In Namibia, uranium workers housed in the township of Arandis have historically been exposed to dust, and radon gas with documented health impacts, especially an increased risk of lung cancer [113, 129].You feel like you have a lot of the control of your life lost, and feeling of not belonging, so there’s no attachment any more. You feel the loss of time and effort and energy and health, the environment and its opportunities. You sort of feel like your future has been stolen… forced out of our home…It’s just a big sense of loss and grief.
Environmental conditions
Despite this, residents were concerned that forced mining closure would have devastating social and economic consequences [132].They use a lot of water in a water scarce country. They demand one third of Namibia’s total water usage and that’s a lot one third. That’s the same with electricity. Then there is ground water contamination which is very, very serious and the ground water is flowing very slowly so it did not reach the coast. The mine is roundabout 60 kilometres east of the coast but there is a lot of east wind. They have strong east winds from time to time and then the dust, the particles, are blown by the wind to the coastline and there are lots of towns.
Mining companies, by and large, will defer any cost that they can from today until tomorrow. And in order to relinquish land it’s a significant cost. So they’re deferring and deferring and deferring for later, and the mine managers of the day have no incentive to do otherwise. It is not in their brief.
It’s not just the [named mine]. It is the whole area, the dust, the trees. They have a different look about them. They’re choking. It’s just an appalling – the fact that we have no policy on final voids and rehabilitation.
You have no idea what these places [voids] look like. They’re hundreds of metres deep; 10 kilometres by 5 kilometres hole in the ground…They put them into what is called care and maintenance which means they don’t actually close, that so that means they don’t actually have to rehabilitate.
Last year Rössing moved 14 to 15 million tonnes of rock and earth to produce one tonne of uranium. You can imagine how big the hole is and how big the waste dump is, how big the tailings is, how much water they use and how much electricity they use. All this is a danger for Namibia…[The tailings are] a catastrophe because it’s a huge area which gets contaminated and that sinks into the ground, into the ground water eventually. Also there is always seepage….What lining will last for 200,000 years and who can maintain such a thing?
We need next-generation environmental laws, imposing far stricter controls in relation to all forms of pollution and the protection of biodiversity. We need a ban on the opening of new coal mines and other fossil fuel resources and a rapid but fair transition out of existing fossil fuel mining operations.
Economic conditions
The role of regulation
In this battle along the way over the past eight years, we actually ended up in the Land and Environment Court where we won our case hands down. They [Rio Tinto] got thrown out of court. They applied again. They appealed so we went to the Supreme Court of Appeal where we won again. So then after that win, the government changed the goal post to suit Rio Tinto. When they appealed, they appealed the findings that they took away our right of merit appeal so we were left - even though we were winners in court, we were losers because they took away our right of appeal.
The problem is as much with the governments – be they national, state or local – and their enforcement of their own environmental guidelines, and in some cases, a lack of environmental guidelines that allows mining companies to do whatever they want and walk away from the damage they have undertaken.
The existing regime of mining law in Australia is entirely inadequate to the job of protecting the environment…and there’s just the general problem of corporations having too much power both in terms of how their participation in the political process is treated, the kind of tax breaks that are given to their representative peak body... So one of the tricks Rio Tinto [and other mining corporations] has played over the years, is they’ll take a corporate view on one thing that might be progressive but will then be paying money to a peak body… which will be pursuing some sort of awful troglodyte line on something, whether it’s Indigenous affairs, the environment or climate change.
In South Africa we have probably the most advanced legislation in this area [social and labour plans]. However, it sounds good on paper. However, in practice there are some really big problems. One of the problems would be the expertise inside a company to be able to drive this process efficiently, to understand what needs to be done and how do you consult - you're required to consult with the municipality and the community, and how do you do that successfully? Then, the local municipalities themselves are under-capacitated, so they don't have often the necessary planning skills and there are big deficits within their own expertise, and sometimes capacity to deliver on basic services.
Ideally, there would be a change to the DNA of business corporations so that instead of just being responsible to shareholders that they also owed fiduciary obligations to the communities around them and to the environment. We need climate triggers in relation to all new developments. We need a raft of laws around shifting obligations back on to the powerful and that’s in relation to labour but also in relation to other areas.
Discussion
Policies that may assist in making extractive industry’s operations more health promoting
• Adopt clear government policy/guideline/legal framework on preventing, detecting and managing conflict of interest | |
• Develop an international agreement to ensure that all taxes are paid in country of profit generation | |
• Cease inequitable taxpayer funded extractive industry subsidies | |
• Restrict government lobbying undermining the democratic process | |
• Halt the erosion of employment conditions through contracting | |
• Mandate greater environmental controls including reduction in greenhouse gas emissions | |
• Counterbalance fiduciary duty to shareholders with social obligations to local communities | |
• Prevent the use of voluntary codes to undermine or prevent enactment of legislation | |
• Develop an independent auditing process to ensure that TNCs comply with their stated commitments | |
• Endorse the proposed UN Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights |