‘Gold Fields 'distressed' over pervasive bullying, sexual harassment, racism at its operations’ 30 August 2023

A review of the workplace culture at Gold Fields found half of the survey participants had experienced bullying, sexual discrimination, or racism in the past five years. The mining company, which operates in multiple countries, including South Africa, said 47% of respondents reported experiencing bullying; 23% of women and 7% of men reported experiencing sexual harassment, and 15% had experienced racism. Another 29% of respondents who identify as LGBTQI+ reported having experienced harassment, with many reluctant to openly acknowledge their status in the workplace, Gold Fields said. The independent review – which was undertaken by Elizabeth Broderick & Co (EB&Co) – surveyed thousands of Gold Fields employees, a small portion of which were contractors. Over 1 300 people participated in face-to-face listening sessions, focus groups, or made written submissions to the review team, while over 2 800 people responded to an online survey.

…In Ghana, 59% had been bullied, 14% of women had been sexually harassed, and 10% of people had experienced racism. At the South Deep mine in South Africa, 51% had experienced bullying, 24% of women had been sexually harassed, and 23% of respondents had experienced racism. At the group's corporate office, 65% experienced bullying, 28% had experienced racism, and 13% of women had been sexually harassed. Gold Fields' interim CEO Martin Preece apologised to those in the business who had been exposed to bullying, sexual harassment, racism and any forms of inequality and exclusion.

…Preece told News24 that while Gold Fields was aware of the various issues, but "we weren't aware of the magnitude". Preece said that the work done by EB&Co in other sectors suggests the workplace issues are not specific to the mining industry but rather point to wider societal problems. "There's recently been a report released by the EY offices in Australia, which touched on very similar themes," he said. "Some issues are potentially amplified in the mining industry, but I wouldn't label this exclusively as a mining industry problem. I think a lot of this links to what's going on in broader society."