Prioritising safety

Why this matters

Mining operations are inherently high risk and unsafe practices can lead to injuries, fatalities, production losses, regulatory penalties and reputational harm. Our employees, regulators, communities and investors expect Exxaro to maintain a safe workplace anchored in leadership accountability, behavioural discipline and continuous improvement.

Safety is a critical element of our licence to operate that protects our people, operational resilience and long-term value creation.

Strategy and management approach

Exxaro’s safety management system translates our safety goal of zero harm across operations into practical standards and behaviours that protect employees and contractors. Guided by our One Voice Safety strategy, we integrate proactive risk management, structured processes, leadership-driven initiatives and technology to embed consistent, high-performance safety practices throughout Exxaro.

Key elements of our approach include:

• Enforcing a zero-tolerance approach to unsafe working practices through consistent adherence to our zero-tolerance rules
• Proactively identifying and mitigating risks with robust controls to prevent incidents
• Maintaining comprehensive safety systems and standards, including compliance with the MHSA, Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 and DMPR safety regulations
• Strengthening our safety culture through communication, training and visible felt leadership (VFL)
• Leveraging technology to enhance monitoring, reporting and hazard detection
• Collaborating with regulators, industry peers and organised labour to advance shared learning and promote continuous improvement in safety practices

The CEO safety summit in April 2025 marked the launch of the One Voice Safety strategy, designed to unify how safety is communicated and practised across the business. The strategy simplifies messaging, aligns leadership engagement and embeds consistent safety behaviours at every site.

We rolled out the strategy through BU activations, toolbox talks and safety indabas, where employees explored the strategy’s pillars and behavioural expectations.

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We also introduced zero-tolerance rules to define safe conduct and prohibit unsafe practices, alongside fatal risk protocols to manage the 10 most critical risks across operations. Together, these initiatives establish a shared safety language and strengthen collective accountability for zero harm.

Preventing and mitigating safety incidents

Our fatal risk protocols and zero-tolerance rules address the most critical safety risks across our operations and define the mandatory standards, controls and behaviours required to prevent fatalities and high-potential incidents (HPIs).

The fatal risk protocols cover the 10 highest risks in our mining and energy operations, including ground and slope stability, transportation, machinery, electricity, fire, explosives and working at heights. The zero-tolerance rules complement these protocols by outlining the non-negotiable actions every employee must follow to ensure safe conduct in high-risk environments. We encourage our employees to exercise their right to stop work when conditions are unsafe.

Site management teams are accountable for verifying controls through high-risk task verifications, while our BU management teams investigate all incidents. An independently chaired grouplevel committee oversees the investigation of any fatalities or high‑potential incidents to ensure impartiality and accountability.

We review our safety improvement plans and targets annually to assess the relevance and effectiveness of our safety programmes and controls. We also embed lessons from incident investigations across operations to strengthen prevention and ensure continuous improvement.

We align our safety practices with internationally recognised safety management standards. Grootegeluk, Matla and Leeuwpan maintained ISO 45001 certification, and Belfast proudly achieved ISO certification in 2025.

Cennergi’s windfarms comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the LSP with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and MHSA. Cennergi’s head of operations reports safety incident investigation findings to the facilities’ steering committees and company boards. Site managers and health and safety representatives conduct investigations following reports from contractors. LTIs and medical treatment cases are immediately reported to the group health and safety department.

Leadership accountability and culture

We drive accountability through leadership-led engagements, transparent communication and ongoing recognition of safety excellence across BUs.

Our annual CEO safety summit focuses on critical safety, wellness and mental health issues, empowering employees and leaders to collaborate on practical solutions that strengthen operational safety. Frontline teams participate in panel discussions that address key safety challenges and promote shared ownership of performance outcomes.

Leadership safety days further reinforce leadership’s commitment to zero harm by creating space for open, critical safety conversations through field engagements. These engagements help align management priorities with workforce realities and build trust through direct, on-site interaction.

We strengthen leadership capability through targeted training programmes that cover risk management, legal liability and leadership in safety. These initiatives equip leaders with the competence and confidence to guide behaviour and embed a zeroharm mindset across all operations.

Awareness, communication and training

Awareness, communication and training We promote safety awareness through ongoing dialogue and training, targeted campaigns and transparent communication across all operations. Our goal is to embed a common safety language that guides behaviour and decision making at every level.

Group-wide initiatives such as safety stand downs, toolbox talks, BU safety indabas and mass meetings help us share lessons from incidents, reinforce consistent safety messages and drive accountability. We integrate safety themes into toolbox talks and site briefings to translate learnings into practical improvements.

We build safety competence through structured training and ongoing development, ensuring that all employees and contractors are authorised and declared competent before starting work. Training covers core risk areas and includes on-the-job and induction training, line supervisor safety management, safety representative training and mini-hazard identification and risk assessment (HIRA) courses.

Safety campaigns throughout the year encourage employees to take responsibility for their own safety and that of their colleagues, promoting proactive intervention when unsafe practices are observed.

Cennergi’s annual safety indabas enhance safety practices, promoting collective responsibility and continuous improvement.