Wellness and HIV/Aids

The welfare and wellbeing of employees is a priority for the AECI Group. All permanent employees are encouraged to join the AECI Medical Aid Society. This Society offers an option for comprehensive cover as well as a more affordable option, which is fully subsidised for lower income earners. Some 90% of permanent employees and their dependants therefore have access to affordable medical care.

In line with the Group’s proactive and holistic approach to healthcare, a Wellness Steering Committee is in place. It is fully representative of management, employees and trade unions and has the responsibility of driving and monitoring wellness initiatives and strategy across the Group. The aim is to move from an illness focus to general wellness, acknowledging that overall good health involves a multitude of facets, including lifestyle elements.

To date, the Committee’s achievements include the development of peer educators to fully trained Champions of Wellness (Champions). These Champions educate and assist their colleagues in understanding, preventing and managing HIV/Aids and other chronic diseases. Advice on healthy lifestyles is another area of focus.

During 2010, 47 new Champions were trained, bringing the Group-wide total to 116. A Wellness conference was held for the first time. Representatives from all of AECI’s South African operations were joined by colleagues from AEL Mining Services in Ghana and Zambia, as well as a delegate from the Ghana Chamber of Mines. Going forward, it is intended that Champions be trained in all countries where AECI’s businesses operate.

The Champions’ objectives for 2011 are to promote health-seeking behaviour among employees, to enhance their involvement in their respective communities, and to proactively assist employees in a variety of ways, such as improving retirement planning knowledge.

Wellness walks were held simultaneously in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and in the Western Cape. Proceeds from these walks were donated to Ikusasa High School (Gauteng), Inkatha Primary School (KwaZulu-Natal) and Cotlands (Western Cape).

Business-specific initiatives in wellness-related matters were as follows:

MINING SERVICES

Two Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) sessions for HIV/Aids were held at AEL. The second drive coincided with World Aids Day in early December. Employee participation was above expectation and additional resources were needed to accommodate the 263 individuals who volunteered for testing. Better HIV/Aids and Wellness awareness is attributed directly to the work of the Champions.

Professional staff from the Employee Assistance Resources (EAR) function again provided employees with counselling on a variety of issues at their places of work, their homes or in hospitals. EAR noted a significant increase in the number of requests for personal loans and salary advances in the year. With the planned reduction in the number of AEL operational personnel at Modderfontein in 2011, it is anticipated that the company’s outplacement services will be in great demand.

SPECIALTY CHEMICALS

HIV/Aids-specific programmes are now fully integrated into a broader Wellness programme and the specialty chemical cluster’s Wellness Committee has played a leading role in the establishment of the Group-wide Steering Committee. Primary health services and EAR-specific expertise continue to be available to employees through well-established occupational health centres.

PROPERTY

A system to ensure that all employees and contractors receive annual medical examinations through an approved occupational health facility was formalised by Heartland. In terms of HIV/Aids, Heartland’s awareness and prevention programme continued with 76% of all employees and contractors at the company’s Umbogintwini site undergoing VCT during the year. Employees at Umbogintwini and Somerset West also participated in the Wellness walk at their sites.