Our goal is to sustain a culture that pays special attention to the health and safety of our people, the environmental impacts of our activities, and builds positive relationships with our stakeholders.
At Fortuna, our stakeholders include diverse groups of employees, contractors, community residents, suppliers, and visitors, among others. We respect the different needs of each group and the diversity within them.
We define diversity as any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another. Diversity means respect for and appreciation of differences in gender, age, ethnic origin, religion, education, sexual orientation, political belief, or disability. At Fortuna, we respect and value the perspectives, experiences, cultures, and essential differences that our board, management, and employees possess.
Our commitment to Our People is guided by several important documents:
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Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and Whistle-Blower Policy
Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and Whistle-Blower Policy, promotes integrity, honesty, and ethical business conduct. It applies to all directors, officers, employees, contractors, and consultants of Fortuna and our subsidiaries.
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Human Rights Policy
Our Human Rights Policy affirms our commitment to respecting the human rights of all individuals impacted by our operations, including employees, contractors, the communities in which we operate and other external stakeholders. We expect our suppliers and business partners to share this commitment and to implement policies and procedures that support respect for human rights.
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Diversity Policy
Our Diversity Policy guides how we will strive to increase diversity throughout the company, and applies to executive and non-executive directors, and full-time, part-time, and casual management, employees, contractors, consultants, and advisors of Fortuna.
Our Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Statement April 12, 2021
The global crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a lot about the resilience of companies and has allowed Fortuna to demonstrate our corporate values in real time. Since the onset of the crisis, our response has focused on three key aspects:
- Securing the health and safety of our employees and neighboring communities.
- Compliance with rapidly emerging regulations to curb the spread of the virus in the countries where we operate.
- Implementing all possible measures to minimize disruptions to the business.
From the start of the crisis, our Health, Safety, Social and Environment (HSSE) Corporate Committee and senior leadership team shared experiences and knowledge daily between all business sites. This allowed us to keep our people safe and minimize operational disruptions. We were among the first mining companies to implement COVID-19 testing and screening protocols in Peru, Mexico, and Argentina. We are proud that we were able to minimize and prevent contagion at our sites through our timely response.
Our operations in Mexico and Argentina complied with mandatory industry-wide suspension of activities for 54 and 60 days respectively, and in Peru we suspended operations voluntarily for 21 days to sanitize and make changes to camp infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic also brought us closer to our host communities as we delivered on our commitment to partner with them in dealing with the social and economic impact of the virus, resulting in strengthened relationships.
Due to limitations and restrictions imposed by the crisis we decided to delay certain capital projects and other initiatives scheduled for 2020, such as ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certification for our San Jose Mine and an external environmental audit of our sites. Where possible, we undertook alternative initiatives, such as self-assessments, and the delayed initiatives have been rescheduled for 2021.
Human Resources
We consider our employees to be our most valuable asset and, for this reason, we go to great lengths to attract and maintain highly skilled and trained employees to achieve our goals as a company.
At Fortuna, we work within the framework of the applicable labour laws of the countries where we operate. Our employees drive our operational performance and represent the key to Fortuna’s success. We work to provide job positions that offer competitive wages and professional development opportunities and are committed to building a diverse organization in an environment with equal opportunities and respect for human rights.
The department of Human and Organizational Development takes the lead on attracting, training, and developing new talent and implementing organizational practices that motivate and retain talent.
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Talent Management
We are committed to using responsible practices to attract, train, and develop talent. Our processes are based on objective criteria: technical knowledge, experience in the role, development potential, and interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, among others.
In 2020, we implemented a new company-wide competency-based talent management model based on the Korn Ferry Leadership Architect (KFLA) tool. This will allow us to develop succession plans and prepare high potential employees to assume leadership positions. We introduced a level-by-level competency manual in 2020.
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Talent Retention
We seek to retain our employees by offering competitive salaries based on statistical data for the mining industry and for the countries where we operate. We provide flexibility, benefits, and additional supports where appropriate, and regularly conduct surveys, audits, and inspections to ensure that our employees and contractors are both satisfied and meeting obligations.
At Fortuna, we use an e-learning platform available to all employees for training. We use this platform to develop, deploy, and deliver regulatory, technical, and management training courses.
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Women at Fortuna
At Fortuna, we recognize the value of having a diverse and inclusive workforce. One of the most significant workforce challenges facing the mining sector globally is the lack of representation of women.
Through our focus on workforce diversity, we are making progress on increasing the proportion of women employees, which increased from 17% in 2019 to 20% in 2020. Representation of women in management rose from 15% in 2019 to 17% in 2020.
Occupational Health & Safety Management
At Fortuna, Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) is one of our core values and a pillar in our approach to sustainability.
We are committed to protecting the health and safety of our employees, contractors, and suppliers by maintaining safe and healthy work environments throughout our operations and projects.
We do not tolerate unsafe actions or conditions.
Our goal is to achieve zero fatalities and to continuously improve our Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) programs and performance. We are guided by our Health and Safety Policy.
In turn, our OHS Policy is aligned with the ISO 45001: 2018 standard. This international standard specifies requirements for our OHS management system and gives guidance for its use. It enables organizations like ours to provide safe and healthy workplaces by preventing work-related injury and illness, and proactively improving our OHS performance.
In 2019, Caylloma’s OHS management system was re-certified in ISO 45001: 2018.
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Occupational Health & Safety Policy
Our Health and Safety Policy applies to all employees of Fortuna and its subsidiaries, our contractors, and every visitor to our operations and exploration sites. Each of our operating subsidiaries is required to have an OHS policy appropriate to the nature and scale of activities, which meet or exceed the occupational health and safety legislation and regulations of the jurisdictions in which it operates, and incorporates the values and obligations set out in the OHS Policy.
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Occupational Health & Safety Performance
We measure our success by tracking several parameters related to OHS performance, including fatalities, lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR), total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR), severity rate (SR), and occurrence of work-related illnesses. We track these separately for our employees and contractors.
For more information on our OHS performance, refer to our latest Sustainability Report.
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Occupational Health & Safety in the Supply Chain
Our suppliers, particularly our contractors, are essential to our business. They work closely with our employees and we ask that they perform their work tasks under the same standards of health, safety, and respect for the environment.
Sourcing, handling and transporting hazardous materials, including explosives, chemicals, chemical reagents, and cyanide, is an area of our supply chain that requires safe and controlled handling. We only work with companies that align themselves with our high safety standards and are committed to our OHS policies. We look for contractors who share our philosophy.
At Fortuna, we have a corporate crisis plan and emergency response plans for different situations or contingencies at our sites that are based on prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.
Refer to our latest sustainability report for more information about our emergency preparedness and response.
Our Communities
At Fortuna, we are committed to creating shared value while respecting the human rights of the people in the communities and countries where we operate.
Our communities are important and a pillar of our approach to sustainability. We value and respect cultural diversity and work as a strategic partner to enable the sustainable development of our neighbouring communities.
COMMUNITY
Open channels of communication ensure that we maintain an ongoing dialogue with communities and invest in local development programs that satisfy their needs. Our social investments allow local communities to access the benefits from our mining business activities.
In 2020, we invested US$1.3 million in community development that went toward local infrastructure and the promotion of education, health, culture, and local entrepreneurship.
We measure our commitment to communities by tracking and measuring our Social Performance. Our primary goals are to contribute to local economic development through priority-based local employment and procurement. We give priority to hiring employees and suppliers from local communities.
We measure our success against these goals by tracking the percentage of employees, contractors, and suppliers from our direct and indirect areas of influence.
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Our Social Approach
In 2019, we reviewed and assessed our social performance at a corporate and subsidiary level and established a new social approach that involves five core areas:
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Communication, Local Development, and Social Investment
At each of our operations, we maintain open and ongoing channels of communication with the people in the communities within our direct and indirect areas of influence. We have established mechanisms at each operation for addressing any complaints or grievances that our communities have.
We invest in communities by creating beneficial and viable local development programs that strengthen employment capacity in the community and provide local suppliers with business opportunities.
At each of our operations, we develop a site-specific Community Relations Plan that includes social programs and budgets for social investment which are reviewed and approved annually by our board.
Caylloma Community, Arequipa, Peru
At the Caylloma Mine, we maintain a steady flow of communication with the Municipality of Caylloma, Subprefecture of the District of Caylloma, and other local and regional authorities to understand their issues and promote social development. We participate in relevant round table meetings on various social affairs.
At our Caylloma Mine, we directly employed 53 community members from the district of Caylloma in 2020 and 181 from the province of Arequipa. We also partnered with 37 local suppliers from the district of Caylloma and 122 from the province of Arequipa.
CASE STUDY: Childhood Anemia Program
Early childhood anemia can impact intellectual development, with lifelong economic and social consequences. In 2020, our Childhood Anemia Program at Caylloma screened 216 children and 140 children diagnosed with anemia received treatment. LEARN MORE >
San Jose Community, Oaxaca, Mexico
At the San Jose Mine, we work to strengthen our relationship with the communities through cooperation. With the municipal authority, we conduct participatory meetings to assess the community needs and to improve the municipal agreements we sign each year.
In 2020, we directly employed 214 community members from the municipality of San Jose del Progreso and 349 from the state of Oaxaca at our San Jose Mine. We also partnered with 36 local suppliers from the municipality of San Jose del Progreso and 153 from the state of Oaxaca.
CASE STUDY: Sourcing industrial water from the Ocotlan Grey Water Treatment Plant is a win-win solution for the community and the San Jose Mine
A portion of the water used at our San Jose mine comes from the Ocotlan Grey Water Treatment Plant we refurbished in 2010 for the Municipality of Ocotlan de Morelos , a community of approximately 23,000 people, 15 kilometers from the mine.
Lindero Community, Salta, Argentina
At the Lindero Mine, in 2018, we developed a community relations plan based on continuous engagement with the local community and people in our indirect areas of influence. We signed a Local Development Agreement with the Tolar Grande Municipality, and an Economic, Social, and Cultural Support Agreement with the Kolla Community of Tolar Grande.
In 2020, we directly employed 48 community members from the municipality of Tolar Grande and 290 from the province of Salta. We also partnered with nine local suppliers from the municipality of Tolar Grande and 186 from the province of Salta.
