Glossary of Terms
| Assurance | An evaluation method that uses a specified set of principles and standards to assess the quality of a Report and the underlying systems, processes and competencies that underpin performance as specified in the Report. Assurance includes the communication of the results of this evaluation to provide credibility to the subject matter for its users. |
| BHP Billiton | The Dual Listed Company comprising BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton Plc and their subsidiary companies. |
| BHP Billiton Group | The whole BHP Billiton organisation. |
| Biodiversity | A diversity of species of plants and animals. |
| The Company | BHP Billiton |
| Charter | A set of clearly defined values applicable to each employee of the BHP Billiton Group. |
| CIFR | Classified Injury Frequency Rate – the number of classified injuries per million workhours (a classified injury is any workplace injury that has resulted in the person not returning to their unrestricted normal duties after the day on which the injury was received). |
| Controlled Site | A site owned and operated wholly by BHP Billiton or managed by the Company in a joint venture operation. |
| Controlled activities | These are work-related activities where BHP Billiton is the operator and can set HSEC standards and directly supervise and enforce their application. Incidents arising from controlled activities are reported, investigated and included in HSEC performance measures in accordance with BHP Billiton requirements. |
| Customer Sector Group (CSG) | A primary operating division of the Company that groups together commodities for a common customer sector. |
| EWRM | Enterprise-Wide Risk Management – a structured and consistent approach that aligns strategy, processes, people, technology and knowledge with the purpose of evaluating and managing the uncertainties the Company faces to create shareholder value. |
| Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative | A multi-stakeholder initiative launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, September 2002. Its aim is to increase transparency over payments and revenues to governments by companies in the extractive industries. |
| Fatal Risk Control Protocols | A set of regulations, mandatory at all our sites and operations, that prescribe requirements applicable to identified key risk areas with a view to eliminating fatalities from our operations. |
| Forum on Corporate Responsibility (FCR) | A forum that brings together representatives of our senior management team, the leaders of several key non-government organisations and community opinion leaders to discuss and debate social and environmental matters relevant to the Company. |
| Greenhouse gases (GHG) | Gaseous emissions to the atmosphere that can contribute to global warming. |
| Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) | A multi-stakeholder process developing and disseminating globally applicable sustainability reporting guidelines for organisations to report on the economic, environmental and social dimensions of their activities, products and services. |
| Guide to Business Conduct | A set of guidelines, published in eight languages, that provide all our employees and contractors with direction and advice on carrying out business and interacting with governments, communities and business partners. |
| Global Ethics Panel | A panel of representatives from our Corporate functions and businesses that reviews all business conduct cases raised throughout the Company. |
| HIV/AIDS | AIDS is a disease, caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), that destroys the body’s white cells, causing illness and, ultimately, death. |
| HSE Committee | Health, Safety and Environment Committee – a subcommittee of the Board and the Company’s peak HSE governance body. |
| HSEC | Health, Safety, Environment and Community |
| HSEC Management Standards | A set of 15 management standards, mandatory at all our sites and operations, that form the basis for the development and application of HSEC management systems at all levels of the Company. |
| HSEC Policy | The Company’s primary statement of principles applicable to health, safety, environment and community matters. The Policy is implemented via the HSEC Management Standards and Protocols. |
| HSEC targets | A set of goals and requirements specified for our sites and operations to achieve, covering management systems, health, safety, environment and community performance measures. A scorecard on performance against the targets is included in our HSEC Report. |
| Indigenous | Originating in a particular region or country. |
| ISO 9000 | International standard for quality management. It is intended to help an organisation to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer and applicable regulatory requirements and to improve its performance in this regard. |
| ISO 14001 | International standard for environmental management. It is intended to help an organisation to minimise harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities and to improve its environmental performance. |
| IUCN protected area categories | The World Conservation Union (IUCN) defines a protected area as, ‘an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means’. IUCN categorises protected areas by management objective and has identified six distinct categories of protected areas. (See www.iucn.org) |
| Licence to operate | Securing and maintaining the trust and confidence of a community and regulators in order to set up and conduct business. |
| Life Cycle Assessment/Analysis | A detailed examination of the full life cycle of a product, process, system or function. |
| Monitored activities | These are activities where BHP Billiton can influence but cannot set HSEC standards and cannot directly supervise and enforce their application. Monitored activities include all situations where BHP Billiton is involved, excluding controlled activities. Incidents arising from monitored activities are, where possible, reported and investigated in accordance with Company requirements but are not included in BHP Billiton HSEC performance measures. |
| MMSD | Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development study of the global mining industry’s current and potential contribution to sustainable development. |
| MSDS | Material safety data sheet – prepared for each of our products and which identifies potential health, safety and environmental aspects associated with their use. |
| NGO | Non-government organisation |
| OHSAS 18001 | An international occupational health and safety management system specification. It is intended to help an organisation to control occupational health and safety risks. |
| PPE | Personal protective equipment |
| Precautionary approach | The principle emerged from Article 15 of the Rio Principles, which states, ‘In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation’. (See www.unep.org/unep/rio.htm) |
| Product stewardship | Measures taken to eliminate, offset or minimise any adverse consequences of a product and to maximise its benefits – applied through the product’s life cycle including mining, processing, transporting, treating, manufacturing, storing, using and disposal or recycling. |
| Risk | Exposure to the consequences of uncertainty – risk has two dimensions, the likelihood of something happening and the consequences if it were to happen. |
| SA 8000 | An international standard for socially responsible employment practices, covering child labour, forced labour, health and safety, freedom of association and collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours, compensation and management systems. |
| Significant incident | An environmental incident classified as level 3 or above or a safety incident classified 4 or above in the BHP Billiton Consequence Severity Table (PDF 40KB). |
| SRI | Socially Responsible Investment – a sector of the financial community that takes an organisation’s environmental and social performance into account when judging its investment rating. |
| Stakeholders | People and organisations who are positively or adversely impacted by our operations, those who have an interest in what we do and those who have an influence on what we do. |
| Sustainable development | Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs – as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development (Bruntland Commission) 1987. |
| Tollgate | A key decision point in a process. |
| WRI-WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol | A measurement protocol developed jointly by the World Resources Institute and World Business Council Greenhouse Gas Protocol for Sustainable Development. (See www.ghgprotocol.org) |
| UN | United Nations |
| Zero Harm | Our aspirational goal, expressed in our HSEC Policy, that our activities will cause no harm to people or the environment. |
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