Community Health & Safety

SHAPE is a recognised leader in supporting community health and safety assessments for the natural resources and extractive sector. They have extensive experience in conducting health impact assessments through their innovate hands-on techniques and methods, with the approach designed to be in compliance with local regulatory requirements, international lender requirements, internal company standards and good international industry practice. SHAPE has experience in following a wide range of standards including development financing standards that often default to the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards on social and environmental sustainability (Performance Standard 4: community health, safety and security) and Equator Principles for Financing Institutions as well as industry standards (International Council on Mining and Metals and the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance as examples for mining sector and the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association as an example for the oil and gas sector).

Core Offerings

Health impact assessments across different project life-cycles and at the appropriate level so the outputs can be used as a decision-making tool to avoid or mitigate risks. This can include scoping level studies to determine key potential health impacts of concern and data gaps to rapid appraisal approaches to comprehensive impact assessments where the scale of the project and complexity of the community receptor require.

While not a focus of health impact assessment, the approach and method that SHAPE adopts can facilitate the consideration of certain community health and safety elements into company community development or social investment strategies with the intent of enhancing the extended benefits of a project.

Baseline health studies including desktop research and appraisal, participatory appraisal evaluating primary participatory engagement through qualitative means and review of available secondary data, and even commissioning cross sectional epidemiological surveys in potentially affected communities collecting primary qualitative data and quantitative data (including biomedical). SHAPE often integrates in a cross-cutting manner to other studies to reduce survey fatigue and support an economy of scale with other studies including socio-economic, resettlement and vulnerability assessments.

We develop specific health management plans that may be required from the community health and safety management plans; as examples, malaria and vector control plan, a communicable disease management plan and workplace medical services and emergency response management plan.

We can support the review of health impact assessments or community health and safety management plans that are submitted as part of regulatory or lender compliance.

Stakeholder engagement with internal company resources and external community or government stakeholders is part and parcel of health impact assessments.

SHAPE is developing a unique health systems strengthening method to support the longitudinal data collection, analysis and monitoring of community health and safety impacts in conjunction with Synapser

Extending from the impact assessment we develop framework management and monitoring plans to address priority impacts and evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation measures.

Conducted as part of a health impact assessment practical and context specific avoidance and mitigation measures are recommended linked to specific impacts and the associated factors. SHAPE follows a standard bow-tie risk assessment methodology that aims to avoid or prevent hazards or causes from leading to impacts linked to hierarchy of controls.