Management Approach for ESG Matters
At Cameco, ESG considerations are integrated within our strategic direction and our business planning processes and reporting. We have a strong and well-established management system and practices, and we strive to continuously improve their rigour.
Cameco’s management system
Our management system describes the framework of policies, processes, and procedures we use to help us fulfill all the tasks required to achieve our objectives and strategy. The Cameco management system (CMS) sets out our vision, values, and measures of success. It identifies our policies and also speaks to our strategic planning process, leadership alignment and accountability, compliance and assessment, people and culture, process identification and work management, risk management, communications and stakeholder support, knowledge and information management, change management, problem identification and resolution, and continual improvement.
Optimizing access to policies and standards
We have been using an electronic management document system since 2015 to digitize and optimize access to our policies, programs, standards and procedures. This system has enhanced our ability to standardize and access documents across our operations.
Policies - The following 10 global policies provide high-level direction to Cameco and guide our actions on significant matters:
- Code of Conduct and Ethics;
- Corporate Disclosure;
- Delegation of Financial Authority;
- Electronic Information and Information Technology Security;
- Mineral Reserve and Resource;
- Our People;
- Procurement of Goods and Services;
- Risk Management; Safety, Health, Environment and Quality; and
- Sustainability.
Many of these policies include ESG-related commitments and principles.
SHEQ Management System - Within our Cameco Management System, we have an integrated Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) Management System. Alignment with, and certification to, the ISO standards is important to us as it is the world’s most widely recognized set of standards. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of this system, we maintain ISO 14001 certification of the environmental components of the management system at the corporate level, and align the safety and health components of the management system with ISO 45001.
Audits
Internal Audits - Cameco has an internal audit function to verify the effectiveness of our management systems and practices. Each year, our internal audit group develops an audit plan to review the processes and controls in place (to mitigate existing and emerging risks to the organization), and to identify opportunities for improvement. The scope of internal auditing encompasses the examination and evaluation of the adequacy and effectiveness of the organization’s governance, risk management and internal controls (including legal and regulatory compliance, and ESG matters) with a primary focus on key risk mitigating processes and controls. Audit projects are selected and scoped in consultation with key stakeholders and senior management, and the internal audit plan is approved by the board’s audit and finance committee. As the plan is designed to be agile, it is reviewed quarterly and may be adapted to meet the evolving needs of the organization.
SHEQ Audits - Our SHEQ team conducts internal audit of the SHEQ programs on a three-year cycle. The total audit scope is split in half and executed on a rotating basis. This means that all our sites undergo at least two audits to cover all aspects of the SHEQ programs within every three-year period. The audit follows the ISO 19001 process and encompasses our safety, emergency response, training, transportation, environmental, quality and radiation protection practices. Internal audit routinely audits the SHEQ audit program to verify that the SHEQ audit process is functioning as expected and to validate management system controls.