Vale is committed to the physical and mental well-being of its employees, which guides the company’s health promotion initiatives.

  • Promotion of physical cardiovascular, and mental health  
  • Vaccination campaigns  
  • Prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections  
  • Prenatal care 
  • Suicide prevention  
  • Workplace physiotherapy  
  • Rehabilitation of employees on leave Employee assistance  
  • Prevention and treatment of substance dependence  
  • Among other initiatives focused on comprehensive health care 


Additionally, to reduce employee exposure to health risks, Vale has global guidelines on occupational hygiene, ergonomics, and fatigue, as well as quantitative targets to reduce medium-term risk scenarios. 

Regular campaigns reinforce the dissemination of information and health education, promoting care for both employees and contractors. In addition to annual themed weeks, such as Health Week and the Internal Week for the Prevention of Workplace Accidents (SIPAT), we maintain ongoing programs and actions focused on engagement and mobilization of all workers. Key initiatives include: 

We develop actions aligned with local legal requirements, the World Health Organization’s global agenda, and the Sustainable Development Goals. In this section, we highlight our contribution to SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-being – through various initiatives. 
Our actions cover topics such as: 

  • Promotion of physical cardiovascular, and mental health  
  • Vaccination campaigns  
  • Prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections  
  • Prenatal care 
  • Suicide prevention  
  • Workplace physiotherapy  
  • Rehabilitation of employees on leave Employee assistance  
  • Prevention and treatment of substance dependence  
  • Among other initiatives focused on comprehensive health care 


Additionally, to reduce employee exposure to health risks, Vale has global guidelines on occupational hygiene, ergonomics, and fatigue, as well as quantitative targets to reduce medium-term risk scenarios. 

Regular campaigns reinforce the dissemination of information and health education, promoting care for both employees and contractors. In addition to annual themed weeks, such as Health Week and the Internal Week for the Prevention of Workplace Accidents (SIPAT), we maintain ongoing programs and actions focused on engagement and mobilization of all workers. Key initiatives include: 

With mandatory employee participation, this initiative includes regular health check-ups, prevention-focused training, functional capacity assessments, and preventive movements. These actions follow global guidelines for health risk management, covering ergonomics and occupational hygiene.
Throughout the year, we address various health topics based on the World Health Organization’s calendar, aiming to raise awareness and provide knowledge to our employees. These include: 
 
  • Mental health prevention  
  • Safe and healthy Carnival  
  • Dengue prevention  
  • Influenza vaccination  
  • Bone health campaigns  
  • Hearing conservation  
  • Respiratory protection Suicide prevention  
  • Fatigue prevention  
  • Men’s and women’s health  
  • Prevention of sexually transmitted infections
Vale actively works to prevent conditions that may lead to employee disability, establishing global guidelines for healthy working conditions. With an interdisciplinary approach involving Health, Human Resources, and Leadership teams, the company has established multidisciplinary committees and adopted common management indicators for monitoring and decision-making. Risk monitoring is carried out at three levels: 
 
  1. First: Focused on collective risk monitoring; 
  2. Second: Focused on employees at risk of leave; 
  3. Third: Focused on employees on leave or in the return-to-work process. 
The leading causes of leave, both in Brazil and abroad, are musculoskeletal disorders and mental health conditions. These issues can result in prolonged absences and challenges in returning to or remaining in the workforce, whether work-related or not. 
Vale has implemented the “Minas por Mentes” program, aimed at reducing the stigma around mental health, supporting employees’ emotional well-being, ensuring access to specialized treatment, and expanding knowledge on the topic. The program brings together global and local initiatives guided by regulatory frameworks and is structured around three strategic pillars: prevention, promotion, and intervention in mental health. 

Actions include psychoeducation campaigns, tools and benefits available to employees, self-assessment instruments, coordinated individual care, proactive approaches, monitoring of critical cases, and customized interventions for groups, addressing key psychosocial factors (individual and organizational) that influence employee health. 
Across our operations, we run risk management programs focused on identifying and monitoring workplace environments to eliminate or, when not possible, control environmental risk agents. We work to eliminate risks by replacing materials and chemicals with safer alternatives and implementing collective measures to minimize them. When these are not feasible, employees and contractors make intensive use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). 

We have global guidelines for Occupational Hygiene aimed at establishing minimum requirements for managing environmental risks. Since 2019, we have had a consolidated plan backed by senior leadership, with clearly defined targets to reduce exposure above Vale’s Occupational Exposure Limit (LEO).  

Our goal is to reduce harmful exposure in the workplace by 50% by the end of 2025. At the start, we had 23,000 exposure cases, and by December 2023, we had achieved the target. The current challenge is to sustain this reduction and reassess risk scenarios—both qualitative and quantitative—older than five years, ensuring safer and healthier workplaces for all our people. 
The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) is a preventive tool developed for individual health screening of employees, based on an ordinal random forest machine learning model. Using a range of continuous and/or categorical explanatory variables, the HRA evaluates three dimensions of Integrated Health: Lifestyle Habits, Cardiovascular Risk, and Emotional Health. 

The tool provides an early estimate of individual illness risk and a population-level overview that supports health program management by departments and leadership. With a focus on Preventive and Population Health, the HRA assists leaders in health-related decision-making through the management of leading indicators. 
The Vale Running Circuit is a health and quality of life promotion initiative aligned with Vale’s purpose of improving life and transforming the future together. More than a sporting and leisure activity, the race represents an opportunity for holistic health care—physical, mental, and social. Vale believes in the importance of this care and promotes the race as a way to connect employees and the community, encouraging physical activity and improved quality of life. 

 The circuit is open to the public and includes stages in Nova Lima (MG), Parauapebas (PA), São Luís (MA), and Vitória (ES), with walking (3 km) and running (5 km and 10 km) categories. The event is open to individuals aged 18 and over and is inclusive of people with disabilities. In addition to the races, participants enjoy recreational and health promotion activities, such as interactive games at the Vale Space, health circuits, and quick massages. 
The Cegonha Program aims to empower families in preparation for the arrival of a child and to foster a culture of genuine, active care through support, information, and encouragement of breastfeeding.
This global program sets requirements for managing ergonomic risks at Vale, enabling the anticipation and identification of physical, cognitive, and organizational ergonomic risk factors, as well as the assessment of their impacts and prioritization of actions and projects to reduce or eliminate risks to employees.
Fatigue Prevention is also a global program that outlines minimum guidelines for the development, implementation, and monitoring of local fatigue prevention programs. Its goal is to ensure that controls to effectively mitigate risks associated with fatigue and drowsiness are properly implemented and managed, while also providing basic information on human fatigue and its contribution to incidents and health issues.
These are physiotherapy clinics located within company health units, designed to provide necessary treatment to employees working in remote areas or facing transportation challenges between external clinics and mine sites. The initiative focuses on reducing absenteeism related to musculoskeletal conditions.
This pioneering campaign promotes the importance of ergonomic comfort and well-being in the workplace.
This program focuses on monitoring and treating employees who smoke, reinforcing self-care, and the prevention of tobacco-related diseases.
This initiative promotes integration and reflection on family life and its relationship with the workplace through lectures and themed workshops.
A dedicated moment for teams to pause and reflect on their actions and emotions, recognize vulnerabilities, and understand that seeking help is part of self-care.
This initiative aims to bring Health services closer to operational areas and contribute effectively to improving employees’ quality of life.
This program trains high-performance teams to address topics such as authentic and positive leadership, collective well-being and happiness, constructive communication, assertive and challenging conversations, psychological safety, authenticity and vulnerability, and resilience.
Focused on encouraging reflection on the importance of planning and managing household budgets, this initiative raises awareness about the proper use of income and appropriate allocation of resources.
In July 2024, the first Adjustment Test Booth at the N5 Maintenance Center in Serra Norte was inaugurated. It helps reduce high-intensity noise exposure for the team. Previously, fit tests were conducted inside the booth; with this initiative, they are now performed outside the truck, improving comfort and reducing workplace accidents.
This daily computerized self-assessment tracks employee readiness by evaluating physical, emotional, and cognitive health factors to determine focus, attention, and concentration levels at the start and throughout the workday. The “Prontos” system uses preventive and educational approaches to ensure a safer workday, with no punitive intent. The assessment management is structured around two pillars: focusing on critical areas with a panoramic view of high-risk users and recognizing leadership that fosters dialogue and support for employees showing changes in evaluated parameters.
In the second half of 2023, the Comfort project was launched with the aim of implementing a set of improvements focused on reducing occupational health risks, such as reinforcing acoustic insulation, new seals, replacing seats, thermal comfort, and implementing an inspection checklist. This process was standardized for the renovation of the operating cabins of the off-road truck fleet of the model that contributes most to absenteeism at the unit. As a result, noise levels in the cabins were reduced, exposure to ergonomic risks from uncomfortable and uncomfortable postures was reduced from high to medium risk, and costs and medical absenteeism were reduced.
Temporary Living Areas were installed in May 2023, consisting of containers equipped with air conditioning, mini-bars, and female and male bathrooms, a suitable place to wait for new demands from the truckless system operation.
Designed to support operational areas with regard to active and preventive care for the emotional health of our employees and to create an environment where people feel safe to talk about mental health.
Designed to encourage, promote self-care, and support engagement related to musculoskeletal issues. Physiotherapy support: support for cases already with specific indications by the attending physician for physiotherapy treatment and screening by the physiotherapist in specific cases.
Implement a set of measures aimed at promoting the physical and mental well-being of women, respecting the physiological, metabolic, psychological, and social characteristics of the female gender. The initiative strengthens Vale's commitment to promoting a culture of inclusion in its operations and fostering one of our strategic pillars of valuing those who make up our company.
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Vale adopts a structured and integrated approach to managing potentially hazardous substances across its operations. This strategy is based on the development of a comprehensive inventory of the chemical products used, enabling the mapping of substances classified as hazardous, as well as the teams and processes involved in their use.

This inventory is complemented by a rigorous control system for the entry of restricted substances, grounded in internationally recognized lists, such as those from UN and ILO Conventions.

Partnerships for Sustainability

Link to CCPS (Center for Chemical Process Safety) elements
Pillars Elements
Commitment to Process Safety Stakeholder Awareness
Understanding hazards and risks Understanding hazards and risks
Risk management Safe work practices / Management of change
Learning from experience Critical review and continuous improvement

Alignment with ICMM (International Council on Mining and Metals) Mining Principles

•    Principle 4: Risk Management
•    Principle 5: Health and Safety
•    Principle 8: Responsible Production
•    Principle 10: Stakeholder Engagement

Technical and Regulatory Foundations

Until the complete substitution or elimination of harmful substances is achieved, Vale follows robust guidelines to mitigate chemical and environmental risks. Our strategies are grounded in the principles of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), which classifies physical, human health, and environmental hazards, and establishes clear communication standards.
We also apply the concepts of Process Safety Management (PSM), adapted to the specific characteristics of mining and incorporating lessons learned from the chemical industry.