BHP : New regional safety standard for light vehicles in Chile

A new improved regional vehicle safety standard for the light vehicle (LV) fleet in our Chilean operations has been defined and implemented.

The standard is designed to ensure consistent and standardised implementation across the region, while leasing contracts extend the same commercial conditions to our contractor companies.

Developed following an investigation of industry best practice and the latest available safety technology, the standard features both active and passive safety technology. This includes: 5-star Latin New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) rating, anti-lock braking system, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning system, adaptive cruise control, electronic stability control, tyre pressure monitoring system (aftermarket), ID Driver (aftermarket) and GPS with 3-axis accelerometer (aftermarket).

Our adoption of an improved standard has now contributed to a change in the light vehicle safety standard across the mining industry in Chile.

With the backing of BHP's Supply team and its Safety team, a manufacturer was asked to supply vehicles with all the safety specifications as required by BHP. With some safety features unavailable in Chile, a prototype was assembled and tested in a controlled local environment using professional drivers. The features and devices in the end product were assessed to be working as intended.

In August 2021, the first vehicles developed under the new standard were delivered to our operations in Pampa Norte and Escondida, with the entire BHP fleet compliant by December 2021. Contractor companies are renewing vehicles as leasing contracts expire.

The change in LV safety standards has helped prompt a change in mindset across the mining industry and has been extended to contractor companies.