Rio Tinto is a listed company in the mining and metals production industry. Some information drawn from
Question:
Rio Tinto is a listed company in the mining and metals production industry. Some information drawn from its 2020 annual report is shown below.
Safety and health performance | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Fatalities at managed operations | 0 | 0 | 3 |
All-injury frequency rate (per 200,000 hours worked) | 0.37 | 0.42 | 0.44 |
Number of lost time injuries | 189 | 2282 | 2262 |
Lost time injury frequency rate (per 200,000 hours worked) | 0.22 | 0.27 | 0.27 |
Safety maturity model (SMM) score | 5.4 | 4.5 | n/a |
New cases of occupational illness (per 10,000 employees) | 15.7 | 21.52 | 29.6 |
Number of employees | 47500 | 46000 | 47500 |
Meanwhile, the account of social security costs (under the account of employment costs) shows 330, 328, 336 million dollars for years 2020, 2019 and 2018 respectively.
a. Using a financial accounting theory, such as legitimacy theory, provide two reasons why Rio Tinto needs to report its safety and health performance?
b. How do you evaluate Rio Tinto’s safety and health performance in the past three years? Justify your answers using three measurements.
c. Based on the figures, suggest an issue for a further investigation. Provide explanations why do you think it might be an issue?