2003 Inco Social Responsibility Report

Indonesia

Newfoundland and Labrador

United Kingdom

Clydach, Wales

The Clydach Refinery, affectionately known as the ‘Mond', was built by Ludwig Mond, the inventor of the nickel carbonyl process at the turn of the 20th century, and started production in 1902. The plant was the heart of the village and one of the largest employers in the Swansea valley for many years. With improvements in processing and a rationalisation of products, the refinery employs 244 people in the town of 7,250 many of whom are pensioners and most of whom have had some connection with the ‘Mond'.

The Clydach training and development team: left to right Martin Davies, Training Manager; Ruth Davies, Training Officer; Craig Lever and Peter Rees, Training & Development Officers.

Our 2003 Contribution: United Kingdom Operations* (All dollar amounts in millions of U.S.$)
	Total
Employees	392
Wages, salaries and benefits other than post-retirement benefits	20.0
Post-retirement benefits	9.0
External employee training	0.2
Expenditures for employee health programs	0.2
Operating, capital and community-related expenditures	29.0
Employer tax contributions	2.4
Indirect taxes	1.0
Total contribution	61.8
Direct contribution to the community	60.0



See Glossary for definitions of key terms including: post-retirement benefits; operating, capital and community-related expenditures; indirect taxes; and direct contribution to community.

*includes Clydach, Acton and the Inco European Marketing Office.

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Over the years, the Refinery has been at the heart of the town and our contribution continues. Each year, Inco donates £12,000 to a Community Liaison Committee – comprised of local council members, community activists, school governors, teachers, and company representatives – which in turn distributes the money to local charities on our behalf.

Sisters Nicola and Katherine Foster belong to a Clydach karate club. Inco contributed towards sending the girls to the U.S.A. to compete as part of the British Karate Team.

For the past three years, £5,000 has been earmarked annually for the Cwmni Clydach Development Trust, a community-driven initiative meant to revitalize the town. “The GDP of the area has slipped over the past 20 years and unemployment has risen,” says David Davies, a local businessman and chair of the Trust. “We wanted to counteract that by taking a bottom-up approach to regeneration.

“Inco is helping us to do that. It provided a £5,000 start-up grant as well as £25,000 of in-kind contributions including office space and equipment. With that start, we were able to get matching funding from other sources. We were also able to engage the townsfolk. More than 100 community members have joined the Trust.”

As a result of money raised through the Trust, the community is now involved in a big project to build a £1.5 million community resource centre that will have sporting facilities, an Internet café, and a healthy living centre.

Says Davies, “As regards the future of Clydach, there is a new sense of optimism.”

A variety of events marked Inco's centennial celebrations in Clydach, including an ABBA tribute night, featuring a band, food and refreshments, held in June 2002 for employees, spouses and pensioners. In September 2002, the refinery hosted a fireworks extravaganza for the entire community. Raffles were held at each event to raise money for the Clydach Refinery's designated charity: Wales Air Ambulance.

Inco has made huge strides in the environmental arena over the years and as legislation has become more stringent, the Refinery has kept pace improving all water and air borne discharges significantly, and working with the community to reduce noise especially at night.

In 2000, the refinery was a recipient of the Wales Environment Award and also received ISO 14001 certification, in the same year. In July 2003, the refinery was accredited with the new ISO quality standard ISO 9001/2000.

Inco employees and members of the community plant the first annual Christmas tree provided by Inco for the Clydach community. The tree is situated outside the library in the heart of the village.

We have a number of training and development initiatives at Clydach. Each employee participates in two days of training twice yearly in February and November. The program includes training in emergency scenarios, team building and problem-solving exercises, environment awareness, and risk assessment. “The initiative is an important part of the Refinery’s overall training program,” says Joe Coyle, the Refinery’s Human Resources Manager. “It allows us to bring teams of employees together and carry out various essential exercises and courses which cannot be done ‘on the job’.”

Staff are also encouraged to sign up for external learning courses associated with the University of Teeside and a tutor is on site one day a week to help learners. Courses include City & Guilds qualification in Process Plant Operations through to Higher National Certificate courses in electrical, electronic, mechanical and chemical process engineering.

Other courses include a European Social Fund Training Project involving interactive CD-ROM training in moor control systems, pneumatics and hydraulics.

Additionally, we offer a maintenance-training program for process technicians run by Coleg Sir Gar, a local technical college. An ongoing program, which began in October 2003, it is designed to meet each individual participant’s needs and offers hands on help from our training department as well as tutors from the college.