OUR TEAM

Committed to Safety

At Sasa, we take pride in everything we produce. Although our industry has changed immensely over time, there are some things that remain constant such as our attention to detail, the quality of our goods and our care for our employees, the local community, and the environment.

747
EMPLOYEES

105 CONTRACTORS

98%
MKD NATIONALS

DEDICATION & EXPERIENCE

‘Sasa is one of the largest businesses in North Macedonia. We could not achieve our production, cost safety and sustainability goals without the hard work, dedication, and support from our experienced team.’

We recognise that a motivated, dedicated, and skilled workforce is key to our success. We work hard to promote our Company Culture and provide a positive, stimulating and productive workplace where the development of employees is encouraged, all people are treated fairly, human rights are upheld, and the cultural values and customs of our employees are respected and equal opportunities are supported.

Sasa is the largest employer in the East Region of North Macedonia, and we prioritise local recruitment. Around 750 people are employed at the mine, of which 88% are from the local municipality of Makedonska Kamenica.

We believe it is important to engage with our workforce. We have an open-door policy, meaning that employees can communicate freely with direct supervisors and senior management. The Human Resources team is available for employees to discuss issues. Sasa has suggestion boxes and comments are reviewed on a regular basis and, where appropriate, implemented and quarterly newsletters are written for employees.

Sasa places much importance on training of its employees, both in terms of health and safety training, so we ensure they know how to keep themselves and their colleagues safe, and vocational training, so we help to develop team members for the future.

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

We recognise the importance of diversity, specifically when considering the breadth of thought, approach and opinion that can be fostered by a diverse group. We are working hard to bring gender diversity to our teams, specifically in the senior levels of the business.

In the mining and metallurgical industry, male labour has traditionally prevailed, but in recent years the proportion of women employed in this field has increased. We strongly believe in the benefits of creating an environment in which women want to work and strive to form a diversified team of professionals in all areas of the business.

We share the International Labour Organization (‘ILO’) standards for decent and productive work for women and men in an environment of equal opportunity, the provision of social guarantees and respect for human dignity. We have a policy of evaluating all existing and future employees according to their skills and abilities and workplace discrimination on attributes such as age, race, gender identity, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, religion, political opinion, or pregnancy is strictly prohibited by our Code of Conduct.

OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM

Our employees and contractors are led by a strong management team focused whose top priority is ensuring that each team member is healthy and safe while at work.

CHRIS COLBOURNE

General Director

MAINTAINING THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF OUR EMPLOYEES

The safety of our people is our primary priority, and we work hard to promote a healthy lifestyle for our employees.

We aim to provide a safe and healthy working environment for our employees, contractors and visitors and determinedly work towards the goal of zero-harm in the workplace.

FIVE STEPS APPROACH

A five-step field-level risk assessment is used by the workforce to assess the risks in their workplace prior to starting work. As hazards are identified and documented by the worker, they are either addressed directly if possible, or placed into a register and prioritised for elimination. The shift supervisor sees and signs every risk assessment presented by employees.

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

All relevant national health and safety standards in the countries of operation are adhered to including, where possible, compliance with international standards. Sasa is certified to international OHSAS18001 standards for health, safety and environmental (‘HSE’) and quality management and will be certified to ISO45001 in 2020.

SAFETY TRAINING

Safety training is undertaken both internally by the safety teams and, where appropriate, externally by health and safety specialists. Training is specifically targeted at ensuring personnel are provided with the skills and knowledge to perform their relevant work tasks as safely and efficiently as possible. By enhancing our team’s level of personal safety, hazard awareness and identification, we aim to reduce risk in the workplace.

RESCUE TEAM

In order to improve the underground emergency response capability, a dedicated rescue station was therefore constructed, and the necessary new equipment purchased.
A new volunteer team consisting of 29 personnel was selected from the Sasa workforce, and weekly training was provided in the use, testing and maintenance of the equipment, as well as rescue techniques
We believe we now have the most highly trained and best equipped mines rescue team in North Macedonia.