Putting life first
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Strategic Approach
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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Heading Example
Heading Example
Prevention of chronic injuries and illnesses
Fatality prevention
Prevention of catastrophic accidents
For more information on Health and Safety initiatives, see the ESG Databook , "Social Data" tab.
Guidelines for Risk Management and Emergency Response:
- Identify, classify, and manage risks, considering impacts on safety, the environment, communities, and business continuity.
- Establish a corporate standard for integrated emergency, crisis, and business continuity management, with defined governance, responsibilities, and response levels.
- Implement and maintain response plans based on risk scenarios, ensuring the protection of lives, the environment, and assets.
- Ensure ongoing training, drills, and exercises for critical roles, including coordination with internal and external stakeholders.
- Ensure the availability and reliability of the human, material, technological, and logistical resources required for response.
- Coordinate emergency management with authorities, communities, and relevant stakeholders, promoting transparency, communication, and integrated action.
Vale Management System Manual - VPS
The VPS connects the best market practices, strengthens governance, seeks compliance with applicable national and international standards, and promotes safety, efficiency, sustainability, and continuous improvement, based on the PDCA cycle. By integrating Purpose, behaviors and processes, the VPS guides people in the search for the best results, ensuring consistency and synergy in the way they work and contributing to a safer, more efficient and responsible Vale.
With The VPS is made up of 10 practices that group 39 requirements. The requirements form the minimum guidelines for the proper conduct of the Management System. Each practice seeks to direct the actions required by the VPS and is an invitation to execution, improvement and collaboration. The practices were organized in a logical way, following the PDCA cycle:
Occupational Safety Initiatives
Golden Rules
The Golden Rules are common across all our operations. They include a culture and operational discipline component that supports initiatives addressing employee and contractor behavior and conduct. The focus of the Golden Rules is on eliminating and/or reducing fatalities and high-consequence incidents.
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Goals and Commitments
Health and Safety Goals and Commitments
I. Eliminating all fatalities. In 2025, we had 3 fatalities in our operations; however, Vale maintains its goal of zero fatalities.
II. Reduction of N1+N2 events compared to the previous year-end results. In 2025, N1+N2 events showed a 22% reduction compared to 2024, expanding to 66% when compared to 2019. Despite the strong results in previous years, we know that much more effort is still needed to eliminate these high-potential events.
III. Reduce by 50% the number of exposures to the main health risk agents compared to 2019 by 2025. Target achieved in 2023. In 2025, we reached 8,500 exposures, representing a 63% decrease compared to the baseline.
IV. Eliminate all risk scenarios classified as "very high" for Health, Safety, Environment, and Communities. In 2025, we reduced process safety risk scenarios classified as "Very High" by 37.5% compared to 2024, and by 94% when compared to 2023.
*All targets include contractors.
Horizontal axis — Years analyzed: period from 2022 to 2025, showing the annual evolution of recorded N1+N2 events.
Numbers at the top of the bars — Annual total (N1+N2): sum of N1 and N2 events per year: 16 (2022), 16 (2023), 18 (2024), and 14 (2025).
Context and key results
- N2 events dropped from 5 (2022) to 3 (2025), indicating a consistent decline in the most severe incidents.
- All data includes both own employees and contractors, in line with Vale's safety policy.
Our Performance
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| LTIFR | 0,28
|
0,27
|
0,34
|
TRIFR
|
1,46
|
1,47
|
1,58
|
- Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) = (Recordable Occupational Injuries / Man-Hours Worked) × 1,000,000
- Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) = (Lost Time Injuries / Man-Hours Worked) × 1,000,000
Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR)¹
¹ Total 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
¹ Total 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).
Heading Example
Process Safety
Since then, the Company has prioritized the implementation and refinement of elements of the management model adopted as a reference, notably: Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis, Change Management, Operational Readiness, Emergency Management, and Accident Investigation. The maturation of the risk-based process safety management model has contributed to Vale’s strategic objectives, with a significant reduction in the number of higher-severity process events over the past few years.
We have also made progress in managing critical controls. In 2025, the benchmark for the operational and non-operational risk critical controls performance indicator increased from 90% to 100%, reinforcing our commitment to security. The new benchmark requires that critical controls be functioning properly, and if any critical control ceases to function, it must be immediately analyzed and addressed through management procedures.
We have advanced into the second global cycle of the Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) program, covering five operational sites in 2025. In addition to consequences for personal safety and environmental impacts, which have been assessed since the first cycle, this cycle incorporates significant operational disruption scenarios that could result in financial losses. A milestone in the HIRA process in 2025 was the internalization of the team conducting risk analyses, which now consists of professionals from Vale’s operations.
The change aims to enhance technical quality and standardize methodologies, enabling greater retention of knowledge regarding the company’s assets and processes. Still regarding process risk analyses, we expanded the training program to include online and in-person training in risk analysis methodologies (What-if, PRA, HAZOP, LOPA), including the training of risk analysis facilitators in the PRA and HAZOP methodologies. We have made significant progress in implementing and refining process safety elements, such as Management of Change (MOC), Pre-Startup Safety Review (PSSR), and Hazardous Materials Management, through the dissemination of these concepts and the use of relevant tools.
As part of its efforts to prevent accidents with the potential for catastrophic consequences, Vale has begun monitoring the performance of events related to operational process safety (P Events), reinforcing our ambition to be the best and most reliable operator. P Events involve operational equipment or assets and are those that result in an unplanned or uncontrolled release of energy or hazardous material (loss of containment) or that, under slightly different conditions or circumstances, could result in such a release.
We continued our trend of steadily reducing process safety incidents (P incidents), exceeding the target set for the year, which reflects the strengthening of our safety culture and the growing maturity of our risk and process safety management.
Vale P1 + P2 Events
P1 (Priority 1): An event with a high maximum potential, often associated with the release of energy or hazardous materials - carrying a critical risk of fatality, severe environmental impact, or the potential for “life-altering” consequences. These events require immediate attention and urgent action (such as filing specific alerts) and involving notifications to corporate management and mitigation teams.
P2 (Priority 2): An event with high potential as well, but with slightly less severe consequences than P1. It still represents an operational risk and can generate serious impacts that require investigation and robust corrective actions.
Both are part of Vale’s structured system for Safety, Health, Environment, and Communities (SSMAC) management. P1 and P2 events require conducting formal investigations, implementing action plans, and filing reports, in addition to feeding corporate indicators into systems such as SAP.
The reduction in PI and P2 incidents is the result of various initiatives aimed at improving Risk Management and Process Safety Management (PSM), notably:
- Improvements in HIRA assessments through the effective implementation of measures to reduce or eliminate risks;
- Implementation of regulatory requirements for asset integrity;
- Improvements in the management and maintenance of the integrity of critical controls;
- Progress in the implementation of other PSM elements, such as Management of Change (MOC) and 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:
- Emergency Response (ERP): contains the guidelines and set of actions to mitigate, prepare for, and respond to emergencies that may result in harm to people, the environment, equipment, or property — whether owned by Vale or third parties — involving activities or facilities.
- Crisis Management (CMP): aims to combine internal actions in a systematic manner to avoid, prevent, and/or minimize the effects and repercussions on Vale's image and reputation.
- Business Continuity (BCP): contains the guidelines that direct Vale to respond to a business interruption and resume, recover, and restore the delivery of products and services in accordance with business continuity objectives.
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.
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Commitment to life
We implement best practices in risk assessment and invest in processes and technology to ensure a safe workplace for all employees.
A focus on health and well-being
Addressing mental health is integral to our practices to promote physical and emotional health and well-being.
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