Shifting the safety culture at Rio Tinto
The impact of global collaboration and safety leadership in transforming Rio Tinto’s culture and project performance
4.5M Work Hours
without a Lost-Time Incident
CHALLENGE
Rio Tinto’s global operations spanned multiple continents, languages, and regulatory frameworks, creating a fragmented perspective on safety culture. Leadership teams grappled with varied national standards and cultural norms, which limited their ability to consistently elevate safety performance company wide. Overlapping complexities—from translating safety protocols into diverse languages to harmonizing local practices with global expectations—signaled that a comprehensive understanding of the company’s safety culture was essential to drive meaningful improvement.
- Rio Tinto didn’t have a comprehensive understanding of its global safety culture
- Challenges included locations, cultural and language challenges and varying safety regulations and standards added to complexities
- Wanted to create an aligned culture to improve safety across all operations
SOLUTION
To address these widespread challenges, Rio Tinto partnered with JMJ to take a strategic, diagnostic-led approach. Rather than introducing one-size-fits-all initiatives, the focus was on understanding the unique cultural dynamics at each site and tailoring safety leadership interventions accordingly. By piloting Incident and Injury-Free™ (IIF™) practices in diverse locations and integrating safety culture efforts into both project execution and day-to-day operations, Rio Tinto began to lay the foundation for lasting transformation across its global footprint.
- Conducted a global diagnostic to assess the safety culture
- Findings led to a new strategic direction
- Collaborated on various projects, including expansions, upgrades and mine operations
- Pilot implementation for IIF at Hope Downs 4 (Australia), Simandou (Guinea), and Benga (Mozambique) to test effectiveness and adaptability
- Worked on projects like Olyu Tolgoi in Mongolia to further enhance safety and performance
CLIENT GOALS
Rio Tinto wanted to gain a clear understanding of its global safety culture to align practices and improve safety performance across all operations.
RESULTS
The impact of Rio Tinto’s safety culture transformation was clear—both in performance outcomes and recognition across key projects.
- Comalco Boyne Smelter Expansion achieved a $100M improvement in NPV
- Hope Down 4 Project awarded ‘Most Improved Safety Record’ within RioTinto
- Simandou Project achieved 4.5M consecutive work hours without a Lost Time Incident (LTI)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
JMJ supported Rio Tinto in navigating the complexity of operating across varied cultural and regulatory environments. By focusing on leadership alignment and tailored interventions, the partnership helped create a more consistent, values-driven approach to safety. These efforts not only strengthened performance but also reinforced a shared commitment across geographically dispersed teams.