Worker safety remains a persistent concern at Freeport’s operations in the Americas, as the number of recordable incidents has risen at an alarmingly high rate, Josh Olmsted, President and Chief Operating Officer-Americas, said during a recent town hall with employees.
There were 119 recordable safety incidents from April through June, compared with 96 safety incidents in the first quarter of 2024, a 20 percent increase, Olmsted said.
On the positive side, there was a reduction in the number of the more serious safety incidents – high-energy and potentially fatal events – down to nine in the second quarter, compared with 15 in the first three months of the year. However, in July alone, there were eight of those more serious incidents.
“We can’t continue to have that kind of exposure for our employees,” Olmsted said. “We need to make sure that we are doing everything we can in that space to manage safety. We’ve been fortunate that those haven’t really ended up in significant injuries.”
Olmsted was joined by Cory Stevens, Senior Vice President and President-FM Technical Services; and Bert Odinet, Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer. The virtual town hall was viewed by more than 2,100 employees across the Americas.
Safety was the dominant theme of the town hall, with Olmsted opening and closing the session by stressing that every employee needs to take responsibility for their own safety and that of their co-workers. Too often, people fail to fully consider the hazards before starting a job, he said. Or they assume there are adequate protections and controls in place when there may not be.
Supervisors need to make sure they set stringent safety expectations for their crews, and everyone should focus on “what we need to do to drive that safety and that safety culture and that safety behavior day in and day out.”
“I would just challenge you to reflect on that a little bit and if there are things you can and should be doing differently to help drive that message, drive that culture, drive those expectations, then go do it,” Olmsted said in his closing remarks.
Focusing on the basics
On other topics, Olmsted said that in the second quarter, the company’s Americas production finished a little higher than forecasted while costs came in a little under expectations. However, it still costs about $3 to produce a pound of copper, so maximum efficiency is essential, he noted.
Olmsted encouraged every employee to “focus on the basics” of doing their jobs and prioritizing the most important tasks that deliver results. Improving equipment reliability through planning and maintenance is one way to control costs. Equipment that runs predictably makes for a more efficient operation, he said.
In response to an employee question about workforce retention, Olmsted said the company is working to address housing shortages at multiple sites. New housing units are being built at Bagdad, and an employee housing stipend is being implemented at the Morenci and the Colorado sites, where there have been particular housing challenges.
There are signs of progress. For instance, there was a 70 to 75 percent turnover rate for new truck drivers in Morenci last year. That is now down to about 40 percent. There also are multiple initiatives to inform employees about the long-term training, education and career advancement opportunities the company offers.
Stevens gave an update on the ongoing commissioning process for the new PT Freeport Indonesia smelter in Manyar, which is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year.
Equipment is undergoing testing and startup, and copper concentrate soon will begin moving through the furnace. This will set off the production chain involving other large components like the acid plant and the water treatment plant.
“It’s all becoming real,” Stevens said.
Stevens praised the help with training the Manyar team is receiving from other Freeport operations, especially the Miami smelter. There has been a rotating group of 60 people, mostly from Miami, who have traveled to the new smelter site to help train operators.
Manyar operators also have been traveling to Miami and other Freeport locations for training.
“The team has done an outstanding job,” Stevens said. “It really speaks to what we're capable of and what we can do when we put our minds to it.”
Investing in innovation
Asked about innovation, Odinet said the company is investing in new technologies that support growth opportunities. Examples include the SAP system upgrades and better data integration that will allow front-line workers and supervisors to access important information in real time.
Olmsted said innovation is not just investment in expensive high-tech items but can be as simple as individual workers finding a better way to do their jobs. Collectively, those individual improvements add up, he said. Olmsted also encouraged employees who come up with new ideas to talk to the right people who can help implement the changes.
“The best thing we can do is really focus on the basics,” Olmsted said. “By being the best at the basics that ensures that we’re really driving those areas that allow us to be successful longer term in our operations so it’s critically important that we continue to do that.”