Stewardship
We describe stewardship as: 'All players in a commodity life cycle working together to maximise the value to society from the mining, processing, manufacture, consumption and end of life management of that commodity – without harming people and the environment.'
As BHP Billiton's primary activities are in the extraction (and in some cases processing) stages of a product's life cycle, we recognise that the majority of the life cycle of the products we provide occurs after the point of our immediate activity. We also recognise there is a strong business merit for implementing product stewardship programs in collaboration with other players in the life cycles of each of our products.
BHP Billiton's Sustainable Development Policy states that the Company will develop, implement and maintain management systems for sustainable development that drive continual improvement. We also seek to work with those involved in all the sectors of the life cycles of our products and by-products to enhance performance along the supply chain and promote the responsible use and management of those products in order to minimise harm to people and the environment.
Mandatory Standards and Procedures form the basis of the Company's HSEC management systems and cover the life cycle of our operations, including exploration, project development, operation, decommissioning and closure.
The Company's Stewardship principles are also outlined for employees in the Code of Business Conduct.
As a member of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) we have also committed to implementing the ICMM Sustainable Development Framework, which requires that we facilitate and encourage responsible product design, re-use, recycling and disposal of our products.
We are involved in the development of stewardship programs for our key commodities, not only within our operations but also with other players in the life cycles of our commodities.
All BHP Billiton products are required to have a Materials Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) prepared for that product. These MSDSs outline the relevant health, safety and environment aspects of the product and are provided to both the relevant customer and the transporter delivering our products to our customers. All MSDSs are transitioning to the new Global Harmonising System format.
Customers
We generally sell to industrial customers with whom we generally engage directly rather than through brokers and agents. Assessment of customer satisfaction is monitored via direct operational and management interaction with customers.
Approval processes are in place to support our adherence to laws, standards and voluntary codes related to marketing communications, such as advertising, promotion and sponsorship. With the exception of diamonds, our product advertising is limited to industrial uses.
During the reporting period, there were no known incidences of non-compliance with regulations and voluntary codes concerning:
- health and safety impacts of products and services during their life cycle
- product and service information and labelling
- marketing communications, including advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.
During the reporting period there were no known incidences of:
- substantiated complaints regarding breaches of customer privacy and losses of customer data.
