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Our response to COVID-19

Glencore is continuing to closely monitor and respond to COVID-19 developments.

Our priority is to protect the health and safety of all employees and contractors while maintaining normal operations at our sites.

We recognise the ongoing pandemic can be a source of anxiety and concern for many employees and our surrounding communities. That’s why we continue to implement a comprehensive range of health, safety and education measures at all of our sites and offices.

Operational response

We have Incident Management Plans in place at every Glencore site and office in accordance with our company protocols.

As part of this response, our sites have established risk-based plans to support the health and safety of workers and the continuation of business at each operation.

These plans include each of the following core elements.
  • Distribution of information on the COVID-19 virus
  • Provision of information about COVID-19 vaccinations
  • Hygiene requirements
  • Promotion of social distancing
  • Distribution of Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) kits as appropriate.
  • Physical separation and social distancing in the workplace to allow essential business operations to continue.
  • Strict screening protocols, including temperature checks as appropriate.
  • Minimising the size of groups to allow for appropriate social distancing in the following areas:
    • start of shift briefings
    • crib facilities
    • mess facilities (for those sites with camps)
  • QR code check-ins.
  • Limiting visitor numbers at sites and offices – in many cases facilitating only essential visits.
  • Setting up COVID-19 vaccination hubs at some operations.
  • Encouraging remote work for employees where appropriate and ensuring that each of these workers is fully equipped to work from home.
  • COVID-19 case management protocols, including quarantining of positive cases at remote operations and replacing individuals and/or crews identified as close contacts of colleagues testing positive for COVID-19.
  • We continue to support Federal, State and Territory Government vaccination programs by strongly encouraging our workforce to get COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots.
  • At some operations, this has included incentives for our workforce.
  • We continue to ask all workers to consider whether international and domestic travel is essential.
  • Our Incident Management Teams are developing specific risk management plans for international travel, given the fast-moving nature of measures and protocols being implemented.
  • We are making information about domestic and international travel requirements from Federal, State and Territory Government authorities available to our workforce.

Stakeholder engagement

In addition to the above actions being implemented at our operations, Glencore continues to work with several external stakeholders in the following areas.

  • Actively engaging with government to help ensure vital economic activity has been able to continue while still implementing precautionary measures to slow and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
  • Working with our suppliers to implement appropriate processes and standards to mitigate the spread of the virus and understand and mitigate any risks to supply of materials necessary for our ongoing operations.
  • Working with Australian infrastructure companies to ensure that the transportation and export of commodities has been able to continue uninterrupted.
  • At operations located in remote communities, we have restricted or stopped our workforce from accessing or engaging with local communities at various times during the pandemic. We continue to assess the situation with remote communities on an ongoing, case-by-case basis.

We thank our employees, contractors, customers, suppliers, host communities and other stakeholders for their continued support during this challenging time.

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