About BHP Billiton
One of the leading multinational companies in Australia is BHP Billiton that deals with mining and petroleum. The primary object of the company is to operate the mining sector, managing the process of oiling and gas production and look after the developing procedure of the materials for the establishment of a stable economy (Emmanuelle & Neem, 2014). The company has become one of the major dealers of the iron ore, coal, oil, gas, copper, aluminium, nickel and silver in Australia. The production list and record of the company is quite attractive and made various world records from the aspect of its products. This corporation is world’s second largest producer of copper and also secure its third position in case of nickel. The corporation is the second largest exporter of the metallurgical coal and hold good position in case of the uranium and aluminium. The company was able to add a feather in its crown by holding the world’s biggest mining corporation for the year 2015.
It is no doubt to state that the company is a renowned multi-national company and the number of employees employed in the corporation with different posts. As per the report of 2017, the total number of employees of this company on global basis is 26,146. The number of employees in Australia of this company is 15,906. However, it has been observed that the company is a global company and the branch of the company has been spread in certain developed countries like USA, UK, Canada and certain developing countries like Brazil, Colombia and Chile. The name of the current CEO of the company is Andrew Stewart Mackenzie. The head quarter of the company is situating in Melbourne. The company has been registered its name under certain stock exchanges in Australia and United Kingdom.
It is one of the powerful stock exchange holders under Australian Securities Exchange and engraves its name in London Stock Exchange (Yakovleva, 2017). However, the name of the company is not only famous for its significant role in the mining sector, but the company has taken certain other development process in the case of the economic growth, educational development and societal changes. It has been observed that the corporate social responsibility of the company has been recognised in many countries. The company has been conceptualised the educational matters and importance of education in the modern world. Many initiatives have been taken by the company for the betterment of the backward classes and the indigenous people. The company has been adopted policies regarding the health issues and certain steps have been taken by the company for disaster relief.
BHP Billiton’s Production and Record
Australia is a corporate state and it has taken many remarkable steps for the development of the business and to prevent the scope of the white collar crime. The Corporation Law 2001 and the Contract Act have been implemented certain necessary provision on this matter. However, the legal tendency of the country in case of the development of the business structure has helped to identify the primary statutes and apply the same on the corporations so that they could not do any illegal acts with any ulterior motive. Apart from the above mentioned Acts, there are certain other Acts enacted in the country and also impact the operational feature of the present company. Such Acts are The Australian Jobs Act 2013, Coastal Trading Act 2012 and Western Australia’s Domestic Gas Policy 2006 (Lodhia, & Hess, 2014). However, there are certain Acts that have created negative impression on the company BHP Billiton, which are as follows:
This Act applies on every major company that is dealing with the manufacturing products and according to this Act; every company should have to make a written conversation if the capital expenditure of the company exceed $500 million annually. It has also been mentioned that the company has to execute an industry participation plan to provide reasonable chances to other regional companies to enable them for the supply of goods and services.
This Act has created certain negative impression on the present company and the company has to bear unnecessary costs and burden while running their business. It has also been observed that the facts of the legislation have been lowering the confidence regarding the international relations and this company has to face certain dilemma in the markets (Hall, Ashworth & Devine-Wright, 2013). The productivity of the company has also been disturbed and it causes a price hike in case of the projects.
This Act deals with the shipping activities of Australia and providing certain rules regarding the voyages and licensing of the same. It has been mentioned under this Act that if a ship has derived its licence from a country other than Australia, minimum 5 voyages should have to be done by the ship in a year. There are certain other rules prescribed for the ship as such loading dates, cargo types and other important information under this Act. The main object of the Act is to provide certain rules so that the non-Australian ships have to face hardship to run interstate business and services.
The Company’s Employees and Locations
The effect of the Act on BHP Billiton is also negative in nature and cost of the shipping materials has been increased and for that BHP Billiton has to face certain difficulties.
The main objective of the policy is to reduce the price of the domestic gas and determine the price below the market equilibrium prices.
It has been stated earlier that the main business of BHP Billiton to deal with the oil and gas and it is no doubt to state that the company has to suffer a lot for the policy. This policy has also increased the burden rate on the LNG projects and the investment policies in case of the gas production have also been getting affected. There is a negative impression created on the Australian Economy and the company has to face serious dilemma regarding the same.
BHP Billiton is one of the leading companies in case of the oil and gas industry and it is no doubt to state that the products of the company have direct effect on the environmental policies and there is a high risk of environmental degradation (Muñoz?Rojas et al., 2016). It is obvious that the mining should be regulated to avoid the harmful effect of environmental dilapidation. Therefore, it is the utmost responsibility of the states to take all the necessary steps for securing the interest of the diversity (Lin, Li & Bu, 2015). In Australia, the company get the permission of the state regarding the implementation of the projects only after it gets the approval from the state regarding the environmental impacts. The main regulatory provision regarding the mining projects is Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. However, it should be mentioned that all the mining projects have to follow particular planning criteria so as to secure the environmental interest. ISO 14001 is a regulatory provision in case of the environmental management program and it reflects the international standards regarding the effect of the mining sectors (Testa et al., 2014). It is required that every company should have to maintain certain particular policies in order to secure the environment during the business. The mining companies like BHP Billiton are not an exception to this rule. It is obvious to state that the chances of environmental degradation are much greater in case of the mining companies and therefore, cautious steps have to be followed by the company in this regard.
BHP Billiton’s Social Responsibility Initiatives
It is required that the company has to run its business within a regulatory framework and should have to maintain all the provisions of the framework voluntarily. After analysing all the aspects of the policies taken by the company regarding the running of their business, it can be stated that the company has taken certain steps towards the environment protection and it has been reflected in the policies taken in case of the coal industry of this company. The strategy of the company in case of coal mines is based on three pillars such as environment improvement program; environment management plans and EMS system for maintain the operational procedures (Kildisheva et al., 2016). Certain matters have been included under this strategy like noise pollution, quality of the air, aboriginal heritage and issues relating to the biodiversity. The environmental management strategies regulated by the company through certain processes that has been mentioned as follows:
Proper maintenance regarding the environmental issues is necessary and the company is inspecting the social and environmental issues thoroughly. If any issues have been found that affected the environment directly, the company will take all the possible action for the prevention of the environmental degradation. The strategic information regarding the environment management has been recorded by the company and proper audit has also been performed by the company to this aspect (Barrett?Lennard, Norman & Dixon, 2016). The company is engaging itself in an improvement process for the implementation of proper action and communicate with the external and internal shareholders regarding the same. a review process is being followed by the company for the proper maintenance of the auditory things and other relevant documentation.
It is a fact that the company is one of the largest corporation regarding the export and import of the mining goods and delivering certain metals like silver, aluminium, uranium, nickel and iron ore. The company has gained various reputations on such basis. However, there are certain negative impacts of the company too. The name of the company has been highlighted for causing the environmental risks and it is held responsible for certain environmental collapse. Some of the events are stated below:
BHT Billiton is an international company and it has branches in other countries. However, the name of the company has been involved in the worst disaster in Brazil when the iron ore mine of the company had been collapsed and as a consequence, whole town was destroyed (Garcia et al., 2017). It was also been reported that the toxic waste emitted from the mine contaminated the water and more than 200 towns and villages were get inflicted. The iron ore mine was owned by BHT Billiton and the company had to face a severe monetary damage for the same. Serious allegation made against the company regarding the instigation conducted by the company for the carbon pricing in Papua New Guinea. Not only in the developing states, is the company responsible for the environmental degradation in the developed countries also. Problems had been cropped up in London regarding the coal mine and it has been reported that the company has secured 19th place in the sectors like corporate polluter due to its unbelievable contribution in case of the green house effect.
Legal Implications of Operating in Australia
The company has not taken proper care or follow appropriate strategy for avoiding these problems; rather it has taken certain matters that have serious environmental issues. For an instance it can be said that the expansion of the Olympic Dam for the betterment of the Uranium sources has all the possibilities to destroy the ecological system and also causes radio-active wastes that can easily affected the environment on a larger scale (Krut & Gleckman, 2013). These radio-active materials are harmful for the globe as there are chances for the destruction of the bird life.
It is the duty of the company to take all the steps to avoid this environmental degradation and in case of any failure regarding the same; the reputation of the company gets directly inflicted. The business process of the company will be injured and the investors will show less interest in the company. It is therefore required to maintain all the regulatory statements provided by ISO 14001 and build the strategy based on the rules of the same. a systematic approach could lead the company towards an economical growth as well as the environmental protection. This will help the company to gain the trust of the shareholders and build its status on the legal basement and also strengthen the ecological standards (Hall, Ashworth & Devine-Wright, 2013).
Reference:
Anger rises as Brazilian mine disaster threatens river and sea with toxic mud”, The Guardian. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 6 September, 2016
Barrett?Lennard, E. G., Norman, H. C., & Dixon, K. (2016). Improving saltland revegetation through understanding the “recruitment niche”: potential lessons for ecological restoration in extreme environments. Restoration Ecology, 24(S2).
BHP Billiton, BHP Billiton Annual Report 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
BHP Billiton, BHP Billiton Limited 2015 Annual Report Form (10-K). Edgar, United States Securities and Exchange Commission. February 27, 2016. Retrieved 6 September, 2016.
BHP Billiton, BHP Billiton submission to the Competition Policy Review Panel, (2014).
Emmanuelle Avril, Johann N Neem, (2014), Democracy, Participation and Contestation: Civil society, governance and the future of liberal democracy, Routledge,.
Garcia, L. C., Ribeiro, D. B., Oliveira Roque, F., Ochoa?Quintero, J. M., & Laurance, W. F. (2017). Brazil’s worst mining disaster: corporations must be compelled to pay the actual environmental costs. Ecological applications, 27(1), 5-9.
Hall, N., Ashworth, P., & Devine-Wright, P. (2013). Societal acceptance of wind farms: Analysis of four common themes across Australian case studies. Energy Policy, 58, 200-208.
Kildisheva, O. A., Erickson, T. E., Merritt, D. J., & Dixon, K. W. (2016). Setting the scene for dryland recovery: an overview and key findings from a workshop targeting seed?based restoration. Restoration Ecology, 24(S2).
Krut, R., & Gleckman, H. (2013). ISO 14001: A missed opportunity for sustainable global industrial development. Routledge.
Lin, P. T., Li, B., & Bu, D. (2015). The relationship between corporate governance and community engagement: Evidence from the Australian mining companies. Resources Policy, 43, 28-39.
Lodhia, S., & Hess, N. (2014). Sustainability accounting and reporting in the mining industry: current literature and directions for future research. Journal of cleaner production, 84, 43-50.
Muñoz?Rojas, M., Erickson, T. E., Dixon, K. W., & Merritt, D. J. (2016). Soil quality indicators to assess functionality of restored soils in degraded semiarid ecosystems. Restoration Ecology, 24(S2).
Mzembe, A. N., & Meaton, J. (2014). Driving corporate social responsibility in the Malawian mining industry: a stakeholder perspective. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21(4), 189-201.
Testa, F., Rizzi, F., Daddi, T., Gusmerotti, N. M., Frey, M., & Iraldo, F. (2014). EMAS and ISO 14001: the differences in effectively improving environmental performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 68, 165-173.
Yakovleva, N. (2017). Corporate social responsibility in the mining industries. Routledge.
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