Putting life first.

This value underpins our leadership team’s commitments and efforts to enhance health and safety performance, in line with our Sustainability Policy and Code of Conduct. 

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Vale’s structured approach to health and safety is based on identifying and assessing risks and hazards, taking targeted proactive and mitigation action, and implementing initiatives and programs to foster a culture of safety. We continuously monitor emerging technologies that can enhance our ability to eliminate and minimize risks inherent in mining activities.

Strategic Approach

The Safety and Operational Excellence Department is responsible for defining the policies and technical guidelines for managing health, safety and operational risks and the VPS (Vale Production System) management model, acting as the second line of defense in the company's Risk Management structure. 

This includes standards, policies and procedures for identifying, classifying and managing risks, including critical controls for preventing events, as well as mitigation actions, such as emergency response, crises and business continuity, in line with best market practices and specific requirements. 

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Applicable to all units, these requirements were based on internationally recognized practices, developed by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), using tools such as the Incident Command System (ICS) and the United Nations Environment Program's (UNEP) Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at Local Level (APELL), for example.

Our health and safety strategy is based on three structural pillars

Our dogma: every accident can be avoided

Prevention of chronic injuries and illnesses

Mitigate the risks of injuries and chronic illnesses resulting from work routines and promote the well-being and mental health of Vale employees. 

Fatality prevention

Eliminate root causes of fatalities and disabling accidents (lives changed) related to work routines. 

Prevention of catastrophic accidents

(operational risk/process safety):
Preventing accidents with catastrophic potential for human lives, communities, the environment, operational continuity and Vale's reputation.
Events and non-conformities related to Occupational Safety, Operational Process Safety, Environment and Communities are reported, investigated and communicated, in order to address root causes and contributing factors, with corrective and preventive actions to promote organizational learning. 
For more information on Health and Safety initiatives, see the ESG Databook, "Social Data" tab.

Risk Management and Emergency Response Guidelines:

  1. Establish and maintain standards that enable: the identification, classification and management of operational risks;
     
  2. Establish a standard for emergency management in Vale's business units;
     
  3. Establish emergency plans and procedures based on relevant and reliable scenarios;
     
  4. Establish training programs to develop the minimum capacity of the individuals identified in the emergency plans and procedures, including roles and responsibilities;
     
  5. Establish and maintain the necessary resources to support all emergency plans and procedures;
     
  6. Assing to business units in the development and coordination of emergency response, crisis management and business continuity plans, in collaboration with local authorities and communities.

VPS Management Model

Vale's health and safety, risk and sustainability management processes are part of the VPS (Vale Production System) Management Model, which has three dimensions - Leadership, Technical and Management, which bring together practices, guidelines and policies that transform our culture, continuously improving and sustaining our results with attention to the risks inherent in our business. Its application is mandatory, and the model is adopted globally in operational and administrative areas. 
VPS is in line with ISO 45.001 and ISO 14.001, which provide guidelines for occupational health and safety and sustainability management systems.

The VPS Management model includes specific elements of health and safety, risk and sustainability:

•    Element 4 (Risk perception and management)
•    Element 5 (Health, safety and environment)
•    Element 9 (Change management)
•    Element 11 (Sustainability) 
•    and Element 12 (Emergency, crisis and business continuity).
 
With the VPS, we guarantee methods and processes to constantly evolve, with people at the center of decision-making. Putting people at the center means guaranteeing resources and basic conditions for carrying out activities, as well as a safe, healthy and respectful environment for each individual. The VPS is made by people and for people.

VPS Management Framework (Vale Production System):

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The application of the VPS helps us to create and promote a culture of discipline, providing information so that all areas can analyze indicators on an ongoing basis, expose problems, align priorities, and take the necessary actions to achieve results. 
 
We periodically carry out assessments, internal audits and external audits with independent auditors, based on risk criteria defined both by the nature of the activities and the level of maturity of the health and safety, risk and sustainability management system.

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Occupational Safety Initiatives

The VPS (Vale Production System) Management model has several minimum requirements that take into account the impacts, risks and legal requirements related to Vale's activities and establishes appropriate criteria for the safety of people and processes, the health of those involved and environmental impacts, with measures and controls for the processes. To take care of people's safety, Vale implements various initiatives, among which we highlight:
The Critical Activity Requirements (RAC) are implemented in order to prevent and mitigate the risks associated with the execution of tasks.
Behavioral guidelines and programs are implemented to encourage people to value safe behavior, intolerance of unsafe behavior, risk perception, understanding and compliance with procedures and rules for safe decision-making.
Process that precedes the execution of a task with the aim of identifying causes, consequences, and implementing control measures associated with risk situations in order to guarantee people's safety.
The Safe Work Permit (SWP) process, when applicable, is implemented by assessing risks in the field and defining control actions to carry out tasks safely.
3-tier verification methodology (Manager, Supervisor/Coordinator and Operator (Performers)) with a focus on preventing fatalities by evaluating critical task controls.
The HSE Management Model for Suppliers aims to establish HSE Guidelines to ensure uniformity and transparency in the relationship between Vale and Suppliers and the implementation of minimum HSE practices and procedures during the execution of activities for Vale.

Goals and Commitments

Vale's health and safety data and indicators are updated periodically and disseminated through the publication of reports, such as the ESG Databook and Integrated Report, which are updated annually.
In addition, in line with the commitment to transparency, the results of indicators that show the evolution of the company's performance are sent to organizations in the mining sector. For example, we report annually to the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), to which we are a signatory, and quarterly to the Brazilian Mining Institute (IBRAM).
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Health and Safety Goals and Commitments

We are committed to improving the health and safety of our own and contracted employees and to improving the safety of our operations, as follows: 

I. Zero fatalities. In 2024 we had four fatalities in our operations, but Vale continues to pursue the goal of zero fatalities.

II. Reduction of at least 10% in N1+N2 occurrences compared to the previous year's year-end results.

In 2024, events with fatalities and lives changed (N1) and with recordable injuries with high potential (N2) fell by approximately 60% (from 63 to 25), when compared to the base year of 2019. This result is directly linked to leadership performance and reflects our learning journey following the Brumadinho tragedy. 

However, when we compare the indicator with the year 2023, we see an increase of 19%. Despite the good results of previous years, we know that there is still a lot of work to be done to eliminate these high-potential events. 

III. Reduce the number of exposures to the main health risk agents by 50% compared to 2019 by 2025. Target achieved in 2023. In 2024, we achieved a 60% reduction compared to the 2019 baseline.

IV. Eliminate all risk scenarios classified as "very high" for Health, Safety, Environment and Communities. 57% reduction in risk scenarios classified as "very high" from 2023 to 2024 

**All targets include contractors.
As we move towards 2024, we have defined a preventive indicator, focusing on the implementation of Critical Activity Requirements (CARs) to prevent accidents and fatalities, in order to strengthen safety barriers. We are committed to carrying out planned actions, including approximately 770 specific actions on facilities and equipment. In parallel, we will continue to improve the safety management of operational processes and the maintenance of the integrity of critical controls, with the aim of further reducing P Events (P1+P2) and strengthening our culture of prevention and collaboration.

Our Performance

N1 – Fatal and life-changing injuries 
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N2 – High-consequence recordable injuries 
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N3 - First aid and other high-potential events 
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As we move forward on our journey towards an increasingly safe working environment, we have seen a significant increase in N3 event registrations. This increase reflects a positive transformation: our safety culture is getting stronger, and our employees are increasingly attentive, engaged and proactive in identifying and reporting situations with a high risk potential, those that can change lives or even cause fatalities. Each report is another step towards building a safer future for everyone.

Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR)1

¹Total number of countable occupational injuries, with time off work, per million hours of exposure. Occupational injuries to employees and contractors in controlled activities that result in time off work are taken into account.

Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR)1

¹Total number of countable occupational injuries per million hours of exposure. Occupational injuries to employees and contractors in controlled activities that result in fatality, leave of absence, work restriction or medical treatment are considered (does not include first aid).

Process Safety

The Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) program was designed with the aim of mapping and analyzing the most severe operational safety risks, identifying and defining performance criteria and establishing the implementation of the appropriate critical controls to prevent an undesired event from materializing, as well as to minimize the impacts of a possible occurrence. The process is part of Element 4 of the VPS and is carried out periodically, with a review of the risk assessments carried out in cycles of up to five years. 

Between 2019 and 2022 we completed the first cycle of HIRA, with a global assessment of 100% of our operations, including mines, processing plants, railroads and ports. As of 2023, we are moving forward with the 2nd cycle, including, for the first time, operational interruption scenarios in the analysis, in addition to the operational risks addressed in the previous cycle. This approach reflects Vale's ongoing commitment to identifying, monitoring and mitigating high-criticality risks, in line with our management model (VPS).

As one of the initiatives to prevent accidents with catastrophic potential, Vale began to monitor the performance of events associated with the safety of operational processes (P Events), reinforcing one of our ambitions to be the best and most reliable operator. P Events involve operating equipment or assets and are those which generate an unplanned or uncontrolled release of energy or hazardous material (loss of containment) or which, under slightly different conditions or circumstances, could do so.

Since the start of monitoring Ps Events, we have achieved a significant and continuous reduction in results. As a reference, we recorded 65 Ps events of greater severity (P1+P2) in 2024, a reduction of more than 20% compared to the 2023 result. And we are aiming to continue this downward trend in 2025.
The reduction in P1 and P2 events is the result of various initiatives aimed at improving Risk Management and Operational Process Safety Management (PSM), including the following:
 
  • Progress in the HIRA assessment with the effective implementation of actions to reduce or eliminate risks;
     
  • Implementation of regulatory requirements for asset integrity; 
     
  • Improvement in the management and maintenance of the integrity of critical controls;
     
  • Progress in implementing other elements of PSM, such as Management of Change (MoC), Pre-Startup Safety Review (PSSR), with the dissemination of concepts and use of tools.

Emergency, Crisis and Business Continuity Plans (ECBC)

Vale has prevention as a priority, yet It seeks to always be prepared to respond effectively to all unwanted events. In that way, emergency, crisis and business continuity response plans are developed and maintained to meet varied situations, based on the inherent risks to our activities, minimizing impacts on people, environment, social and human rights, reputational and financial.

In the response to and management of emergencies, crises and business continuity, Vale is structured into independent areas of activity which must, in certain scenarios, communicate and act together. In the event of any unwanted event, the response must follow the following priorities: 
 
  1. People: protecting the health, safety and well-being of employees, service providers (direct and indirect), communities and society;
     
  2. Environment: protect and/or restore natural resources and assets of historical/cultural significance;
     
  3. Assets: protecting, repairing and/or compensating for the loss of own or third-party assets;
     
  4. Reputation: protect and, if applicable, mitigate impacts on Vale's reputation;
     
  5. Business continuity: return to safe operating conditions as quickly as possible.

The preparedness and response plans are designed to meet various situations, minimizing impacts and ensuring an efficient response. With this approach, Vale aims to always be prepared to face challenges and maintain its operations in a safe and sustainable manner.