Safety as a way of life
Problem
Living safety as a value – not just words on a wall
Spark
Turning safety strategy into shared, lived experience
Impact
A culture where safety feels personal – and ownership runs deep
PROBLEM
Overview
Living safety as a value – not just words on a wall
Safety is Anglo American’s number one value. In one of the world’s most high-risk industries, that commitment has to translate into everyday behaviours – not just policies or statements.
Preventing harm isn’t only about managing visible risk. It’s about building confidence to speak up, addressing stigma, and creating environments where people feel able to seek support. It means recognising that safety stretches way deeper than the risks at the coalface and includes psychological safety and the realities people bring from home into work.
For more than a decade, we’ve supported Anglo American as it has continued to strengthen and evolve this approach – ensuring safety is experienced as a shared responsibility across its global workforce. And empowering employees to tackle multiple challenges. From domestic violence to mental health. Covid-19 to I&D. Saving lives to preserving the planet. Each one tapping deep into emotions to inspire action and ownership.
SPARK
Making it happen
Turning safety strategy into shared, lived experience
Our role has been to help translate safety principles into experiences that resonate across cultures, languages and literacy levels – making them personal, practical and powerful.
Across global safety programmes, WeCare wellbeing communications, mental health initiatives and campaigns tackling domestic violence, creativity grounded in behavioural science has helped employees connect emotionally with complex and sensitive topics. One powerful example was Safety 365 ‘Living our values’ programme.
SAFETY 365 | LIVING OUR VALUES
Dancing to the same beat
Music. Images. Dance. They’ve defined what it means to be human for millennia. And they transcend language, culture and literacy. Perfect for connecting and inspiring a diverse workforce.
Inspired by the gumboot dancing that originated in South Africa, we translated Anglo American’s values into a global performance. It appealed to both logic and emotion. Took immersive experience to a new level. All staged simultaneously by employees worldwide – from the CEO and leadership to the frontline.
01
Make it meaningful.
Six values. Six rhythms. Conveying the beats miners used to communicate while deep underground. And building an emotional connection between corporate policy and sensory experience.
02
Feel it. Live it. Love it.
‘Feeling’ each move made the values tangible. ‘Acting’ each one meant employees made them personal. And the shared performance built joy – and connections – across continents.
03
Six values. One global workforce. Acting in unison.
Simple, stirring moves. Adopted by tens of thousands of employees. It forged a deep connection between organisational values and personal responsibility. And the values remain vivid – long after the lights went down on Global Safety Day.
IMPACT
The outcome
A culture where safety feels personal – and ownership runs deep
Across multiple initiatives, Anglo American has continued to strengthen the physical and psychological safety of its people.
From employees seeking help and speaking up, to leaders modelling open conversations, the impact reaches far beyond a single campaign. Safety is no longer something communicated periodically – it is something lived, discussed and owned across the organisation. Here’s the mind-blowing power of internal comms – it’s helping them get ever-closer to its zero-harm ambition.
75% of employees in 70 global locations voluntarily joined in our Global Safety Day dance activities.
Our safety programmes are equipping all leaders and colleagues with the skills and tools to take ownership of safety.
Our mental health campaign is creating an environment where people can feel safe to seek support and challenge prejudice.
We can help
Changing behaviours is hard enough, but when your organisation has to do it across languages, cultures and continents, now that’s a challenge.
If you’re looking to create real change – whether that’s build a safety-first culture or boosting belonging – we want to help.
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