Criterion: Community Health, Safety and Development
Policy commitments and action plans to prevent adverse impacts on community health and safety, establish baseline conditions for community development, and promote local employment and procurement.
Full Description
SHR01 Community Health, Safety and Development
Standard Section: 9.1 Category: Social Human Rights Scheme: Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP) Standard Version: 2.0 for Piloting (effective April 30, 2025)
Overview
Policy commitments and action plans to prevent adverse impacts on community health and safety, establish baseline conditions for community development, and promote local employment and procurement.
Requirements
The Facility shall:
- 9.1.1 Establish a documented policy that includes the following commitments:
- 9.1.1.1 Respect communities' right to safe and healthy living conditions, through identification, prevention, mitigation, and remediation of community health and safety impacts;
- 9.1.1.2 Respect the rights of all affected stakeholders irrespective of race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ethnicity or national origin, disability, pregnancy, religion, political affiliation, union membership, covered veteran status, protected genetic information or marital status;
- 9.1.1.3 Support community development needs to promote long-term socio-economic community benefits; and
- 9.1.1.4 Prohibit the arbitrary or unlawful interference with a person's privacy, family, home or correspondence and unlawful attacks on their reputation, in alignment with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- 9.1.2 Implement action plans to prevent, mitigate, and remediate adverse impacts on community health and safety as identified in Section 6.7 and in consultation with affected communities in alignment with Section 6.5. Action plans shall include measures to prevent and mitigate the potential for community exposure to hazardous substances, water-born illnesses, communicable diseases, and emergency events such as flooding, landslides, spills and fire in alignment with Sections 7.9 and 8.9.
- 9.1.3 Establish baseline conditions for community needs, in consultation with affected communities in alignment with Section 6.5, to determine the context and need for community investment and development, with consideration for livelihoods, gender, legal rights and interested, and the specific needs of vulnerable and marginalized populations.
- 9.1.4 Develop and implement action plans to carry out community development initiatives that positively contribute to community needs, quality of life, and employment generation, including provision of resources to support community investment and development initiatives.
- 9.1.5 Take actions to position the Facility as a partner in multi-stakeholder processes, supporting communities and local governments in defining and meeting their own development goals and aspirations through participatory planning and decision-making.
- 9.1.6 Create local employment opportunities and develop a process to support hiring, training, and retention of local workers.
- 9.1.7 Demonstrate support of local procurement, where practical and feasible, including development of a local procurement strategy.
- 9.1.8 Promote cross-functional coordination and responsibility for supporting community investment initiatives across all business units that interact with the community.
- 9.1.9 Make communities aware of their access to grievance mechanisms and remedy in alignment with Section 6.7.
Source: RMI Facility Standard for Social, Environmental, OHS and Governance Risks, Version 2.0 for Piloting (April 2025), Section 9.1
Profiles using this criterion
Responsible Minerals Assurance Process
Conformity Alignment
Meets
Pass: Yes
Definition: "Facility has a documented community health, safety, and development policy, implements action plans to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts on community health and safety, has established community baseline conditions in consultation with affected communities, and implements community development initiatives addressing identified needs. Facility promotes local employment, supports local procurement, and ensures communities are aware of their access to grievance mechanisms."
Partially Meets
Pass: No
Definition: "Community engagement and development commitments exist but are partially implemented: e.g., policy exists but community baseline has not been established, action plans to mitigate community health impacts are incomplete, community development initiatives are not linked to identified community needs, or local procurement commitments are not documented."
Remediation: 180 days
Does Not Meet
Pass: No
Definition: "No documented community health, safety, and development policy, no action plans to prevent community health and safety impacts, no community baseline assessment, or no engagement with affected communities."
Remediation: 90 days
Priority
Pass: No
Definition: "A Priority finding may be raised for severe adverse impacts on community health and safety caused by the facility's operations (e.g., toxic contamination of community water supplies or emergency events directly caused by facility operations) where immediate remediation is required."
Remediation: 30 days
Not Applicable
Pass: Yes
Definition: "This criterion may be not applicable to facilities located in areas with no surrounding communities or stakeholders affected by their operations. The facility must document the rationale with evidence."
Not Able To Assess
Pass: No
Definition: "The assessor was unable to access community engagement records, community development documentation, or interview community representatives to verify the facility's community engagement practices."
Change Log
1.0.0 (2026-06-24)
Initial release.