Site Managed Assessments (SMAs)
In 2004 Rio Tinto launched a new internal assurance mechanism to assess Group businesses relationships with their affected communities. Site managed assessments (SMA) have been designed primarily to ensure businesses are implementing the Communities policy and Communities standard. Verifying actual performance against claimed achievement is important in securing and maintaining community support and confidence.
The SMA process ensures that every Rio Tinto business is reviewed every three years; an SMA can also be triggered by an identified need. SMA is intended to provide independent assessment of sites engagement and commitments with their affected communities. It should identify for management any actual and potential problems, and also areas for improvement. Rio Tinto will ensure that the process is credible and verifiable. A number of pilot SMAs were run in 2005. The SMA process will be rolled out across the Rio Tinto Group in 2006.
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