Sustainability report

About this report

This sustainability report presents a consolidated view of Omnia’s economic, social and environmental performance for the year ended 31 March 2011. Omnia aims to provide a balanced, understandable and comparable view of our business by giving a frank account of our sustainability achievements and challenges.

About our organisation

Omnia is a diversified, specialist chemical services provider with business interests balanced across chemical, mining and agricultural markets. The Group’s business model, which leverages its intellectual capital and technology, differentiates it from commodity chemical companies.

Omnia’s three businesses (chemicals, mining and agriculture) provide high-value, customised solutions built on a continually expanding knowledge base.

Omnia’s unique business model places us at the forefront of the chemical services industry and involves matching customer needs to product innovation and application expertise to add extraordinary value to its customers’ businesses.

Informing the boundaries of this report

This report is included as part of our annual report and the information provided is based on the information for the financial year ending 31 March 2011. This follows the convention used in previous years and makes the information contained in the report comparable across the financial years.

Broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) is regarded as integral to our sustainability, and relates to both economic and social aspects. Therefore, although our B-BBEE initiatives only concern our South African operations, they have been included as part of this report.

The remainder of the report is inclusive of our global operations.

Report assurance

We have not obtained independent third-party assurance of this sustainability report for this year. We assess our application of the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) reporting framework to be at Level C.

HUMAN CAPITAL REVIEW

Workforce diversity

Omnia’s transformation goals are to achieve equitable representation of all races and gender and to reflect the demographic profile of South Africa, in line with the economically active population at all levels. To realise our transformation and growth strategy, we focus on the attraction, development and retention of skills within the Group and in the broader South African context.

Initiatives to promote B-BBEE

Omnia regards B-BBEE as a business imperative that is crucial to the future of South Africa and its economy. It is an essential process required to bring about increasing black participation in the South African economy and reduce existing income inequalities.

Our B-BBEE imperatives are based on the principles that:

Omnia has completed its financial year 2010 (based on the annual report for the year ended 31 March 2010) B-BBEE formal verification and it has, in line with its strategy, achieved a Level 4 status, with an overall score of 71,95 (2009: Level 5 status, 58,42) in terms of the Department: Trade and Industry’s (the dti’s) B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice. Omnia’s verification was conducted by NERA, a SANAS-accredited verification agency.

A Level 4 status affords a B-BBEE procurement recognition of 100% for customers of the Omnia Group. A copy of the new certificate and report is available on the intranet and the Omnia website at www.omnia.co.za.

Omnia’s scorecard improved overall, particularly in the ownership, procurement, enterprise development and socio-economic development categories. This is a reflection of the Group’s ongoing focus on developing employees and communities, and addressing the skills challenge faced by the Group. The Group has also done well in preferential procurement.

Equity ownership

Omnia established the Sakhile equity scheme for employees, which places 10% of the company in the hands of our South African employees, in 2007. At the time of the launch, eligible employees were awarded 1 000 shares each. The Sakhile initiative ensures that the Group’s broader employee base benefits directly from its growth over the longer term, thus aligning their interests with those of shareholders. A separate legal entity, Sakhile is now overseen by a Board of directors who are nominated to their positions by members.

The Omnia Board has long recognised the need for significant management ownership participation within the Group and believes that the Group’s success is related to the excellence and long-term dedication of its key management personnel. The Board also believes that an effective partnership arrangement between the shareholders of Omnia and management enhances the wealth of the Group.

According to these objectives, a second phase of the employee share scheme, Sakhile 2, was launched during 2010. Aimed at black members of Omnia’s management team, a portion of the shares allocated to the scheme are to be used to attract skilled individuals to the Group and to retain talented black Board members, executives and employees.

Employment equity

At Omnia we believe that a diverse workforce contributes to cross-cultural understanding, broadens perspectives and helps to enhance our competitive edge. We are therefore committed to transforming Omnia’s workplace by systematically implementing an employment equity plan, which, based on a robust set of principles, guides the actions and initiatives we take to build a truly representative workforce. These principles include: 

Omnia fully subscribes to the rights of the individual as contained in the Constitution. Non-discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, sexual preference and creed form the essence of Omnia’s employment policies and practices. Transgression of this policy is provided for in the disciplinary codes and procedures.

The right to non-discrimination is paramount to the Group and rests on the following principles contained in its statement of employment practice:

Omnia employees freely pursue their work-related rights of equality, dignity, privacy, freedom of religion, belief and opinion, occupation and profession, fair labour relations, safety and health, language and culture in terms of the Constitution of South Africa. This is facilitated through a corporate culture well supported by the necessary policies and procedures, as well as training in a variety of areas such as intercultural diversity, employment equity, safety, health and the environment, literacy and life skills. During the year under review, 67% of employees underwent a total of 8 345 training hours in this regard.

No incidents of discrimination were reported during the year under review.

Part of Omnia’s process of developing the employment equity plan was establishing employment equity committees at plant level across all divisions. These ground-based committees report to the divisional committees, who then report to the central Group employment equity committee.

Plant and divisional-level committees debate strategies and monitor legislative compliance, while the central committee evaluates progress against set objectives and targets in each business on a quarterly basis. All committees have received training as to their roles, and produce annual reports on their progress.

The introduction of plant-level committees has proven highly effective. Beyond setting and driving compliance with targets, the committees have empowered employees at plant level to take ownership of the employment equity process, and serve as a platform for employees to voice a broad range of concerns which are then escalated within the division and Group.

Omnia’s employment equity status for the year under review is reflected in the table below:

During the year, the representation of black men and women in management, professional and skilled positions moved from 35% to 40% and overall black representation in the Group was 65,7%.

During the year under review, the Group’s total workforce grew by 8,5%, mainly due to the growth in mining activities. Stringent performance management measures and the unfortunate incidence of limited retrenchments, resulted in the overall staff turnover rate increasing from 10% in 2010 to 13,7% for 2011.

While permanent employees are entitled to a full suite of employment benefits, including retirement benefits, medical aid and leave, temporary employees are normally entitled to leave benefits over and above their normal salary income. Standard notice periods apply and form part of the employment contract of each individual, whether permanent or temporary. Where it becomes necessary to implement changes, a process of due consultation takes place to ensure correct and fair implementation of such changes.

Security services are either outsourced or supplied by the landlord of rented premises. Training of security personnel is therefore conducted by the service provider, with the exception of an induction training module performed by Omnia. The use of breathalyser equipment is formally taught by the supplier, and tests are performed per the instructions for the apparatus. The service is assessed at least once every 12 months, and the contracts are re-evaluated on an annual basis.

Health and HIV/Aids

Omnia continues to pursue its policy of awareness of training, voluntary testing and counselling, as well as free HIV/Aids medication to those employees who cannot afford to belong to any form of medical aid. We recognise that Omnia has a duty to inform, educate and assist our employees who have been impacted by the pandemic. We assist through providing a comprehensive programme, which includes:

The Chemicals and Mining divisions have made use of the services of an external service provider, ICAS, to assist with training, awareness campaigns and counselling.
The Agriculture division has developed an inhouse HIV/Aids “theatre” using employees as the actors. Initial feedback has been extremely positive, with an increased number of employees participating in voluntary counselling and testing (VCT).

Employee assistance programme

The pilot employee wellness and support project which was launched during the last financial year within the Chemicals division has been successfully rolled out to all Chemicals and Mining sites.

The programme is facilitated by an external independent counselling and advisory service. Through a call centre managed by experienced counsellors, employees requiring assistance are referred to the appropriate services. In addition, on site awareness programmes are offered to employees.

Recognising our people

We recognise that our people play a fundamental role in achieving sustainable business success. Our broad-based approach to the management of our people – which includes defined strategies to attract and retain talent, enhance motivation among staff and increase attention to positioning the Group as the chemical sector’s employer of choice – is crucial to the sustainability of Omnia.

Remuneration policy

Omnia’s remuneration policies are integral to our retention strategy. To remain competitive, remuneration is benchmarked against the broader industry, and revised annually through internal mechanisms such as remuneration committee meetings, as well as discussions at industry bargaining unit forums.

In addition to competitive salaries and benefits, we offer short-term incentives such as performance-based commissions and bonuses. Short-term incentives for senior management are based on an economic value added (EVA) formula. EVA incentives are calculated as a percentage of EVA the Group generates annually and then pooled, with allocations rolled over a three-year period.

To facilitate long-term retention of employees, and in order to align shareholder and employee objectives, management and the vast majority of employees participate in a variety of Omnia share schemes.

Developing talent

GIBS class of 2011

Training and developing our current and potential workforce are cornerstones of our strategy. In addition to ensuring a pool of motivated, skilled employees, building individual capabilities contributes fundamentally to more sustainable societies. Development initiatives are underpinned by a focused effort to identify and address specific training needs at every level. In addition, these initiatives are aimed at entrenching a culture of lifelong learning and giving our people the life and technical skills they require to succeed in a rapidly changing world.

Ongoing learning is facilitated through a range of initiatives and includes on-the-job training, in house development projects and financial assistance for external studies ranging from Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) to postgraduate degrees.

The identification and development of talent within the Group is an established principle and part of Omnia’s advocacy of a learning culture. Underpinning the learning culture is a dedication to encouraging discussion, forming partnerships to solve problems and mentoring programmes to facilitate personal development.

Omnia’s value proposition of leveraging intellectual capital to provide differentiated products and services finds expression in the offering of training and development opportunities available to staff at all levels within the organisation. This requires continuous review of all training initiatives.

During 2011, the average number of training days recorded across the Group was five days per employee. Our training days target per employee has until recently been five days; however, benchmarking against international companies as well as our counterparts within the chemical sector indicated that this target should be reviewed. A best-practice benchmark is deemed to be around seven days per employee.

Training hours per occupational level

Some 2,4% of the leviable payroll was spent on training (compared to 2,5% in 2010). According to the dti B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice, the training target for black employees is 3% of the leviable payroll. We have adopted the 3% target across the board for training spend on all employees, regardless of race.

The split of training costs and training days between black and white employees are reflected below:

Training hours by category and training spend during the period under review compared to the prior period were as follows:

Training spend

Training and development initiatives

The Group continued to provide financial assistance through bursary programmes for tertiary education at universities and other institutions in disciplines ranging from accounting, agriculture and engineering to information technology, marketing and general business management.

Categories of training initiatives per race and gender

WM – white male. BM – black male. BF – black female

Categories of learnerships and bursaries per division

Categories of learnerships and bursaries per class

During the 2011 financial year, training and development initiatives included:

Categories of ABET skills programme

Developing leaders

The Omnia Leadership Development Programme (LDP) was established in 2009, in conjunction with the GIBS business school at the University of Pretoria, to promote the development of a strong leadership cadre in Omnia. Two programmes – the Fundamental Management Programme (FMP) and the Programme for Management Development (PMD) have been developed for selected employees. As an integral part of both programmes, students are expected to complete action learning projects. These projects, undertaken by syndicate teams comprising at least six Omnia employees, are required to address problems or challenges in the company. Each team is expected to suggest solutions to the identified business challenge and present their findings to Omnia senior management. A professional GIBS coach assists the teams through the entire problem-solving exercise.

The 2009 programme was completed in May 2010, with the graduation ceremony taking place in August 2010. All syndicate groups had the opportunity to present their projects to a panel of senior managers. In general, the quality of the projects was of a high standard. A number of project outcomes are being considered for partial implementation or used as a guideline to address similar issues throughout the company.

Given the success of the first Omnia GIBS Leadership Development Programme, the second intake of students for the 2011 programme has been identified. The selection process took place over three months – from November 2010 to January 2011 – and identified 20 employees to participate. Classes began in February 2011. The programme has been altered to now run over 12 months as opposed to the initial programme which ran over 18 months.

Managing and monitoring performance

Managers conduct regular sessions with their staff to discuss performance, training and career paths, and to ensure they receive continuous and relevant training. The spirit of these sessions is one of jointly finding ways to maximise performance and ensure appropriate career development.

Industrial relations

Trade union membership increased slightly during the year from 33% to 34% of the South African workforce. Membership is spread across five unions, with the largest union representing 14% of the workforce.

Employees have the right to associate with any union or representative body of choice. Similarly, they have the right to disassociate should they prefer.

Omnia is a member of the national bargaining council for the chemical industry. Collective wage and other conditions-of-service agreements are concluded annually between employer and employee representatives. These become effective in July each year. The current agreement extends to June 2011.

The Group experienced no industrial action during the review period.

The table below indicates the consistent, albeit slow, increase in the extent with which Omnia employees exercise the right to associate:

* Calendar year

SOCIO-ECONOMIC REVIEW

Procurement

Where possible, the Group seeks opportunities to increase its procurement of products and services from accredited B-BBEE suppliers. In 2011, 53,3% of total procurement spend was with such suppliers, an increase of 4,1% over the prior year. At the same time, spend with enterprises that have 50% black ownership and 30% black female ownership increased from 8,95% to 13,2% and 13% respectively.

Enterprise development

Agriculture remains one of Omnia’s primary areas of focus, and we have long been aware of the disparity in the South African agricultural economy, characterised by a well-developed commercial sector and poorer subsistence farming operations.

To address this disparity, Omnia, in partnership with other private-sector entities and financial institutions, actively provides developing and emerging black farmers with assistance and advice through the expertise of our trained agronomists. We offer support to new entrepreneurs to set up their own businesses wherever possible, contributing to the sustainability of enterprise development in the sector by offering input and practical assistance through agricultural best practices, not only in plant nutrition but also in other agronomic practices, for example soil cultivation, tillage systems and environmental programmes. Reduced tillage systems increase farmers’ profitability and reduce their production risk, and are also more environmentally friendly. Using Omnia’s in house developed technology, including OmniSap^®, OmniBio™ and OmniPrecise™, our agriculturalists are able to increase farmers’ margins and reduce their financial risk.

A dedicated agricultural unit, established specifically to assist emerging farmers, spent R9,9 million during the year on helping farmers establish their enterprises. Selection is based on farmer ability and agronomic due diligence – the potential of the farmer and the farm to be economically viable and sustainable in the long term.

Dryden project

In 2006, Omnia, Absa and Monsanto initiated a collaborative approach to support individual black farmers in becoming sustainable commercial farmers. Implemented in the Delmas area, the Dryden project is now in its sixth year.

Initially, in 2006, two farmers planting on 260 hectares were supported to ensure a successful and sustainable implementation process. Unfortunately, extreme drought resulted in poor yields and a subsequent loss by the two farmers. As we took a long-term approach to this project, the partners agreed to write off the bad debt and continue the initiative. In 2007, the intervention grew to five farmers planting on 1 000 hectares, with a total finance requirement of R6 million. The second year resulted in much better yields and small profits. 2008 saw seven participating farmers planting maize and sunflower on 1 600 hectares, with a total finance requirement of R8 million. In this year, farmers increasingly began to use their own equipment, reducing their reliance on contractors. A basic form of precision farming was also implemented to introduce a technological approach to farming, and the principle of investing 50% of profits back into inputs for the next season has been agreed with the farmers.

Omnia is a full-time partner in the initiative, providing project management, dedicated agronomical support, products, services and training support.

In 2011, Omnia secured an additional partner, Afgri. We expect that the new partner will play an active role from the 2011/2012 season.

Two of Omnia’s personnel function as project managers in the Dryden and Free State areas where the project is being implemented, and are also involved in marketing the grain produced.

Lowveld emerging farmers

Omnia’s involvement with emerging farmers in the Lowveld began in 1998, with the South African Sugar Association’s launch of the first sugar cane projects in the area. Omnia disseminates knowledge of plant nutrition management and the principles of sugar cane fertilization at numerous farmers’ days held at the different projects. This helps emerging farmers build successful businesses, as they are able to develop an understanding of all aspects of sugar cane production. More recently, finding solutions for finance availability for these farmers has become an additional focus.

Omnia continues to support this project full-time, with dedicated personnel to service the emerging farmers.

The Bethlehem Farmers’ Trust

The Bethlehem Farmers’ Trust (BFT) was established in Bethlehem in 1998 to progress land reform in South Africa by establishing emerging farmers in local communities to produce apples in the eastern Free State as a sustainable agriculture project. The project is financed by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), and Omnia contributes agronomic advice, farming skills and fertilizer products. This 110-hectare apple project has been very successful and most of the produce is destined for the export market.

NWK Farmer Development Programme (formerly Batswa ko Pele)

A collaborative project with the NWK cooperative to support 30 black farmers growing maize and sunflower on about 5 000 hectares in the North West, this project is now in its sixth year. Although implementation in the first year proved problematic, mainly due to difficulties in sourcing adequate finance, teething problems have been overcome and the farmers are going from strength to strength. Most of the farmers in this project have stabilised in terms of their production planning from year to year. Omnia is a full-time partner in this project, providing dedicated agronomic support, products, services and training.

Agristart

Although the Agristart initiative has been around for a few years, it has faced difficulties from a lack of finance and the non-continuity of financiers. Based in the previous Bophuthatswana homeland, it also presents a unique challenge in that farmers rarely own more than 15 hectares each – really too small to establish viable commercial enterprises. This means that progressive farmers need to rent substantial tracts of additional land. In 2008, the NWK cooperative was introduced as a long-term financier, with support from the North West Department of Agriculture.

However, due to lack of continuity from the financing partners, North West Department of Agriculture and the subsequent closure of their investment wing, this project is now dormant.

OVK project and VKB service area projects

A collaborative project in the south-eastern Free State with OVK, GrainSA and other roleplayers, this initiative has grown from humble beginnings to deliver very positive results with 12 farmers planting 3 000 hectares in the 2009 season. However, due to high input costs and low grain prices since then, the number of farmers has declined to nine working 1 800 hectares.

Omnia’s expertise in agri-BEE projects supported a new collaborative partnership in 2008 with VKB in the eastern Free State. Starting with six commercial farmers planting maize on 700 hectares, but lacking proper support, the project achieved significant results in its first year of operation, and grew to more than 8 500 hectares in 2009. Omnia is a full-time partner in this initiative, providing project management, dedicated agronomic support, and products, services and training.

Brooksby project

The Brooksby project is a unique initiative conceived by a white commercial farmer to uplift his neighbouring community by providing inputs, mechanisation and technical expertise to black farmers, which have enabled them to plant 1 100 hectares of maize. His dedication and successes in the development of emerging farmers prompted Omnia to support this initiative and, since 2008, Omnia and NWK have provided dedicated expertise.

Small-scale farmer development

Although Omnia’s main focus is on creating profitable and sustainable black commercial farmers, we understand the huge challenges of finding lasting solutions to uplift small-scale farmers in rural areas – home to millions of people often caught in a poverty trap. The initiative includes products such as seed, fertilizer and chemicals being made available to project participants, enabling these entrepreneurs to become intermediary input suppliers by selling these products while training more people in their communities.

Socio-economic development

Investing in communities

Omnia understands that contributing to the development of the communities in which it operates makes good business sense. Over more than 50 years of operation, Omnia’s agriculture business has earned a strong reputation as a champion of the farming community, and continues to play an active role in developing the domestic agriculture sector. Omnia’s contributions centre on the development of emerging farmers, and actively contributing to agriculture and environmental education. In this way, we hope to support the sustainable development of African agriculture at both the formal and informal level by transferring skills and best practice.

As noted, Omnia plays an important role in developing emerging farmers to enable them to establish and manage commercially sustainable businesses. Our expertise and experience enable us to provide superior education services to emerging farmers, reducing their risk in a tough, competitive environment. But Omnia employees also offer their time and knowledge to assist with various complementary developmental projects in the agricultural environment.

Omnia’s socio-economic development spend in 2011 amounted to 1,44% of net profit after tax, against a target of 1%, compared to 3% in 2010. In addition to our involvement in developing the emerging agricultural sector, Omnia has established partnerships in a variety of agricultural projects, including the following:

Grain Value Chain Network (GVCN)

The GVCN, an NGO established by a number of members including Omnia and GrainSA, coordinates the efforts and resources of roleplayers in commercial agriculture, specifically those involved in grain production, to make a meaningful contribution to the commercialisation of black farmers. Omnia plays a leading role in coordinating this effort, and supports the organisation by creating partnerships for agri-BEE projects, finding solutions to long-term finance and insurance challenges, and liaising with the departments of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and rural development and land reform to create more successful land reform and post-settlement support. At ground level, we provide project management, advisory and training services, and agricultural products. We believe the GVCN will have a profound impact on mainstreaming black commercial farmers, as the success of the approach has now been proven.

Education

Mathematics and science skills underpin Omnia’s intellectual capital base. As such, promoting education, especially in these disciplines, is a key focus for the Group.

Zakhe Agricultural College

Omnia is a sponsor of Zakhe Agricultural College in KwaZulu-Natal, which gives young people the skills and motivation required to succeed in the modern agriculture environment. Besides teaching subjects such as mathematics, science, biology and various agricultural specialisations, the college provides a practical learning experience, with students running their own farming projects during the year. All participating students are black.

Elgin Community College

The Elgin Community College promotes job creation by providing training in all aspects of deciduous fruit farming in a two-week winter school programme. The students are mostly farm workers from Elgin and Grabouw in the Western Cape.

Buhle Farmers’ Academy

The Buhle Farmers’ Academy is a renowned training institution at Delmas that provides training and practical experience to aspirant black farmers in a host of agricultural specialisations. With the support of various private-sector partners, the academy has trained over 1 400 farmers since inception in 2000. Omnia sponsors all fertilizer used on the 90-hectare farm where students hone their practical skills. Omnia personnel are also part of the teaching staff, specifically focusing on crop production. Omnia’s involvement extends to assisting farmers, on completion of their studies, to access finance from financial institutions such as the LandBank. We play a pivotal role in sourcing land for graduates through our close association with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. In these ways, Omnia plays an active role in alleviating poverty and promoting sustainable economic development and resource use in South Africa.

The table below reflects the Group’s socio-economic development spend for the year under review, and for the past three reporting periods:

SAFETY AND HEALTH PERFORMANCE and ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

Our policy

Omnia is an active member of the Chemical and Allied Industries’ Association (CAIA) and a signatory to the association’s Responsible Care^® initiative. Committed to continual improvement in all aspects of our health, safety and environmental performance, we strive to align our business with the global Responsible Care^® principles, which requires us to:

As a Group, we have committed to implement an integrated management system (IMS) based on ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 guidelines.

In addition to health and safety committees at all sites, a joint safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ) committee is in place, chaired by a member of management. The SHEQ committee meets quarterly to discuss issues of mutual interest in the Group, and to transfer knowledge and best practice between divisions.

SHEQ aspects, impacts and risks per site are continuously evaluated and recorded on the respective registers for all our sites in terms of the integrated management system. Occupational health and safety risk assessments are also conducted on each site once every two years as per the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act.

The results of these assessments are communicated to the health and safety committees of all sites, and remedial projects are identified, implemented and monitored. A summary of major risks is included in the management risk report which is reviewed by the risk committee in its bi-annual meetings.

Omnia has formulated more stringent product requirements for its international suppliers. Checks by qualified Omnia personnel are now standard procedure on internationally supplied materials. These quality measures are applied throughout the supply chain, from the supplier’s facilities to the point of delivery.

SHE expenditure		Transport
Omnia’s total expenditure on safety, health and environmental aspects for the period under review decreased from R52 million in F2010 to R25 million in F2011. The significant drop in expenditure can be attributed to a number of capital intensive projects such as the co-generator facility in Sasolburg that have been implemented during the previous financial year.		Specific measures were implemented during the prior period for the approval of contractors used for deliveries, vehicle checklists and directives on load securement. The total number of transport incidents decreased from 55 in F2010 to 44 during the year under review. All of these incidents have been dealt with in a responsible way and rehabilitation was introduced where required. Transport incidents Transport incidents include all transport incidents over land, sea, air and rail which involve raw materials, intermediates, final product, own vehicles and contractor vehicles. They exclude claims relating to insurance incidents on employee motor fleet vehicles.

Incidents per ton manufactured		Legal incidents
Transport incidents per 100 000 ton of product manufactured decreased significantly from 3,02 to 1,6. The CAIA Industry standard which is used for benchmarking is 0,24 which does not differentiate between inhouse or contractors, and covers road, rail and pipeline incidents.		The number of legal incidents, which include SHE-related fines, warnings, summonses and penalties, decreased from 17 in the last year to 15 this year. These incidents relate to corrective notices that were issued by the Department of Labour, effluent contravention notices that were issued by local authorities and transport documentation that was inadequate.

Water consumption

Omnia’s total water consumption decreased from 1 192 378 kilolitres in F2010 to 1 086 857 kilolitres for the period under review, while our water consumption per ton of product decreased from 0,436 kilolitres/ton in F2010 to 0,393 in F2011. The decrease in water consumption can mainly be ascribed to lower production levels within certain of our divisions.

Energy consumption

Omnia’s total energy consumption increased from 1 379 176 gigajoules (GJ) in F2010, to 1 447 165 GJ in F2011, while total energy consumption per ton of product manufactured increased slightly from 0,5303 GJ per ton to 0,5319 GJ per ton.

Waste
General waste to landfill		Recycled waste
The total volume of general waste disposed of on a general landfill during the period under review increased from 4 731 tons to 7 922 tons. This is mainly attributable to the construction activities associated with the new nitric acid complex.		The volume of waste recycled increased slightly from 573 tons last year to 866 tons this year, mainly due to the appointment of a dedicated waste controller.
Hazardous waste to landfill
The total volume of hazardous waste increased from 828 tons that was disposed of last year compared to the 1 040 tons that was disposed of this year, mainly due to intensive clean-up operations undertaken.

Environmental incidents

The total number of environmental incidents decreased from 94 to 52. All of these incidents were successfully remediated and, where necessary, reported to the authorities.

›	Unauthorised or unplanned disposal of solid waste, both hazardous and non-hazardous.
›	Loss of containments of any material from a skip, tank, bunded area or tanker.
›	Emission of any liquid, aqueous or otherwise, which has/or may have a harmful effect upon the site reticulation systems or the ground/subterranean water and which does not comply with agreed discharge standards/permit requirements.
›	Gaseous emissions not covered by a registration certificate, but which may impact the environment, eg leaks from flanges, fractured pipes or RVs.
›	Emissions from vents and stacks exceeding permit conditions.
›	Environmental nuisances such as dust, noise emissions (other than occupational health-related) from site operations.

Environmental initiatives

Air quality

The following initiatives were implemented as part of Omnia’s commitment to continually improve the air quality management within the Group.

Monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)

Omnia acknowledges its responsibility to monitor and report on the emission of greenhouse gases associated with its activities and also to report on its strategy to continually reduce its GHG emissions. Omnia’s approach can be summarised as follows:

Air quality permits and compliance

Existing air quality certificates in terms of the Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act (45 of 1965) were reviewed, updated and converted to the new format that is required in terms of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act. The reviewed permit applications were submitted to the National Department of Environmental Affairs for approval and issuing of new permits in terms of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act are currently being awaited.

An application for an air quality permit for the new nitric acid complex in Sasolburg has been submitted and is currently being awaited.

An air quality management project to facilitate the implementation of the new statutory requirements in terms of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act was initiated within Omnia Fertilizer. This project will consist of the following phases:

Water, waste and effluent management

Chemicals

Important projects that were commissioned to improve the water, waste and effluent monitoring within our Chemicals division can be summarised as follows:

Mining

The following projects to improve the water, waste and effluent quality within BME were commissioned during the period under review:

Agriculture

Significant projects that were commissioned to improve the water, waste and effluent management within Omnia Fertilizer can be summarised as follows:

Environmental impact assessments

A total of six environmental impact assessments (EIAs) were initiated and five environmental authorisations were received during the period under review.

Occupational health and safety

Fatalities

In terms of safety, Omnia’s view is that even one injury is an injury too many. Three employees regrettably lost their lives as the result of an explosion that occurred at the Losberg megamite plant on 1 March 2011. An investigation which is led by an external investigation team is still in progress.

Recordable case rate (RCR)

Recordable cases are defined as work-related fatalities and those work-related injuries which result in loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, transfer to another job, or require medical treatment beyond first aid. Thus all fatality cases, lost workday cases and work-related injuries as detailed above are recordable cases.

The recordable case rate decreased from 2,38 to 2,35 and remains a concern, despite various initiatives that have been implemented to improve employees’ safety awareness. We have initiated a special project which will look at future improvements to the Group-wide culture of safety, a near-miss reporting drive, awareness through safety campaigns and greater application of the national standards.

Initiatives to improve in our SHEQ performance

Integrated SHE management system

As detailed earlier in this report, integrated management systems were successfully implemented and certified at all of the facilities within Omnia Fertilizer and BME, while surveillance audits were conducted according to schedule on all of the certified integrated management systems (IMS) of both operations.

The roll-out of the implementation of the IMS to all facilities within Protea Chemicals is progressing satisfactorily and is scheduled to be completed within the current financial year. Protea Chemicals Inland was the first to successfully implement and obtain certification on all standards for its IMS. The total number of internal and external audits within the Group increased significantly due to the implementation and roll-out of the IMS facilities.

Audits

The number of external SHE audits steadily increased over the reporting period – an indication of greater participation in the IMS implemented and our commitment to continual improvement. Divisions schedule their own internal or external audits with assistance from internal SHE resources as well as Group SHE for second-party audits.

Medical surveillance

Routine medical surveillance tests to monitor the health risks associated with occupational exposure were conducted according to schedule on all of the divisions.

Energy conservation

A project to improve the energy efficiency of all our facilities has been commissioned and is ongoing. Alternatives which are continuously investigated and projects that were implemented to improve our energy efficiency can be summarised as follows:

Public participation

Attendance of the following environmental forums is ongoing:

Industry forums

Environmental participation

Community forums

Responsible Care^®

Highlights of Omnia’s involvement with CAIA and Responsible Care^® can be summarised as follows:

Anti-competitive behaviour

The complaint initiated against Omnia Fertilizer Limited in November 2003 and which was subsequently referred by the Competition Commission to the Competition Tribunal, was dismissed by the Competition Appeal Court with costs on 14 March 2011. The Competition Commission has filed an application with the Competition Appeal Court for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal against the decision, and Omnia Fertilizer has filed its intention to oppose the application.