Human Rights
Human Rights
Human rights are standards we use here at Sierramin Bauxite to recognize and protect the dignity of all human beings, especially our workers.
Human rights are universal and every person around the world deserves to be treated with dignity and equality. Basic rights include freedom of speech, privacy, health, life, liberty and security, as well as an adequate standard of living. While Governments have the duty to protect individuals against human rights abuses by third parties, businesses are recognizing their legal, moral and commercial need to get involved.
We work across a diverse range of social, economic and political contexts, and are part of the fabric of society in the communities and countries within which we operate. We know our activities and the activities of those with whom we do business can both promote and negatively impact human rights. We acknowledge our responsibility and the opportunity to contribute to realizing human rights for people around the world.
Our approach to respecting human rights
We know we can affect human rights everywhere we work and beyond our operations. We also know that what we do in one location may affect people’s trust in how we will respect human rights elsewhere.
Consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we are committed to respecting all internationally recognised human rights, including acknowledging and respecting Indigenous peoples’ connections to lands and waters.
We voluntarily uphold a range of other international standards and guidelines, including the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR), the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Global Compact. Our human rights performance is also assessed through various external initiatives including the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, Copper Mark and the ICMM.
We reiterate our commitment to respect internationally recognised human rights aligned with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and to implement core international standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).
At a minimum, we comply with national laws, applying our own standards when they are more rigorous. When national laws conflict with our standards, we look for ways to encourage the adoption of international standards, including through multi-stakeholder dialogue. We may also reconsider whether we can operate in such locations.
We also recognise the importance of addressing human rights risks in our business relationships, from our suppliers and customers to joint venture partners. We therefore look for ways to help our business partners respect human rights in line with international standards. At our non-managed operations, this may include best practice sharing around complaints handling, discussing human rights issues at joint management meetings and making our experts available to build capacity of operational employees.
Our policy includes commitment to:
Training
Provide training on our human rights expectations to all new employees and all relevant existing employees.
Due Diligence
Conduct human rights due diligence for all new projects as well as significant modifications to existing operations where there is the potential for negative human rights impacts, and seek to employ reasonable measures to mitigate those impacts.
Compliance
Comply with and demand that all suppliers and contractors comply with all national laws, the International Bill of Human Rights, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Core Conventions.
Periodic Audits
Conduct periodic audits and reviews at different sites, of different operating units, and of different contractors, to give us confidence that we are meeting the letter and spirit of this policy. We may conduct audits ourselves or use external third parties. Where appropriate, we will establish performance improvement action plans to respond to the findings of these audits and reviews.
Our Human Rights commitments
- United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
- United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights
- United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
- United Nations Global Compact
- International Council on Mining and Metals Principles for Sustainable Development and Performance Expectations
- International Finance Corporation’s Environmental and Social Performance Standards
Criteria of effectiveness for non-judicial grievance mechanisms
- Legitimate
- Accessible
- Predictable
- Equitable
- Rights-Compatible
- Transparent
- Source of Continuous Learning
- Based on Engagement & Dialogue
