DRUMMOND CIP SITE VERIFICATION VISIT 2022
In 2022, the Colombian coal producer Drummond Ltd. underwent a Bettercoal site verification visit on their Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP).
Over the four years since its site assessment in 2019, Drummond has been working to make improvements against the 29 items in their CIP, which required action to meet the international standards of the Bettercoal Code. Drummond has regularly provided evidence to the Bettercoal Lead Assessor on the steps taken, closing all 29 items, of which 20 required verification through a site visit.
Drummond, who has been a Bettercoal Producer since 2014 and the first company to undergo two full Bettercoal site-assessments, has taken concrete actions on their CIP including improving safety systems, increasing oversight of contractor working conditions and alignment of contractors’ safety systems with Drummond’s requirements, and active implementation of stakeholder engagement and social investment plans with local communities.
The established procedure requires that particular actions on a Bettercoal Continuous Improvement Plan can only be fully closed following site verification by the Lead Assessor. During the visit in August 2022, the Lead Assessor reviewed the 20 items, and closed 19 of them. The assessment team also included a new item in the CIP on safety protocols during lightning storm events and noted the actions that would be needed to close this.
The site verification assessment showed that, based on documentary evidence, stakeholder interviews and on visits to Drummond’s mining and port operations, Drummond has actively worked to implement the improvement actions and recommendations made during the initial assessment in January 2019. The assessment report states that: “It is evident that the company has made good faith efforts to continuously improve its business practices and to implement the recommendations from the CIP”.
This is the first time Bettercoal has undertaken a CIP site verification visit, which is an important milestone for our assurance processes. Drummond continues to demonstrate their commitment to the Bettercoal Code and Continuous Improvement journey, taking action across a range of ESG areas. Drummond is now working to close the remaining two items in their CIP, ahead of starting to plan for a new assessment against the new Bettercoal Code 2.0 later in 2023.
More information about Drummond’s Bettercoal assessment journey and the public CIP site verification visit report can be accessed here.
