Governance

We operate with integrity in everything we do to uphold Cameco’s values, achieve solid results, deliver value to shareholders and earn and maintain the trust and confidence of all stakeholders.

Board, executive and management

Our commitment to sustainability starts at the top. Our board of directors is responsible for overseeing management, our strategy and business affairs.

The board is actively involved in our annual strategic planning process and works with management to set our strategic direction. The board oversees our annual corporate objectives and approves incentive compensation for our senior executives – all of which are based on performance against our four measures of success. It also reviews our safety, health and environmental quality policy every three years, as recommended by the safety, health and environment committee.

Management provides strategic and operational leadership under the guidance of the board, and takes a proactive approach to managing risk across the company. Over the last several years, the board and management have developed and refined an enterprise risk management program which, in 2015, earned Cameco recognition as winner of the 2015 Achievement in Private Sector Risk Management award.

Cameco’s safety, health and environment (SHE) committee

Cameco’s SHE committee of the board is responsible for overseeing safety, health and environmental risks and related operational risks.

The committee is responsible for:

Cameco management system

The Cameco Management System (CMS) provides the overall framework that guides the management of the company. It sets out the corporate vision, values and key policies that govern how we conduct business and how we are organized. A key element of the CMS is safety. It is a paramount consideration in all our activities, and applies to our workers, the public, and the environment.

An important part of how Cameco does business relates to our behaviour and actions, which are governed by our code of conduct and ethics. The code applies to all employees, officers and members of our board of directors. It covers all aspects of our business, including how we conduct ourselves with shareholders, customers, partners, contractors, suppliers, competitors and the public.

The CMS sets out the high-level policies that govern specific aspects of Cameco’s business, as well as our detailed programs and standards, which provide specific guidance. While many aspects of the CMS impact Cameco’s efforts at sustainable development, three areas are of particular importance: corporate social responsibility (CSR), risk management, and safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ).

Corporate Responsibility

Our corporate social responsibility policy defines what CSR means to Cameco. It includes commitments to:

• comply with all applicable laws and regulations where we operate
• conduct regular internal and external audits of our business and operations
• release a biennial sustainable development report aligned with key performance indicators that are relevant to our business, including GRI and corporate indicators
• proceed in good faith to use our influence to encourage partners and co-owners to adopt practices consistent with our policy

The corporate responsibility department is responsible for development and implementation of the five-pillar corporate social responsibility strategy we use to manage relationships with communities near our operations:

• workforce development
• business development
• community engagement
• community investment
• environmental stewardship

Risk Management

Our risk policy provides guidance to ensure we have a robust risk management framework that systematically identifies, ranks and addresses risk. The framework includes a risk management program based on ISO 31000. All enterprise-level risks are evaluated against Cameco’s four measures of success.

The nominating, corporate governance and risk committee of the board oversees our risk management process, including the risk policy and risk management standard. Each board committee is responsible for overseeing specific risks that it has been allocated. The enterprise risk management (ERM) team provides the nominating, corporate governance and risk committee with quarterly updates on the status of the risk management program and co-ordinates specific risk presentations for the board and the other board committees.

Risk management is a core element of our strategy and objectives, and we use it continuously to improve our organization. Our risk management system feeds into our annual strategic planning process, where we identify potential threats to our business that must be addressed, and opportunities to advance and improve it. It also helps guide our internal audit plan.

ERM supports all Cameco departments, divisions and operations by facilitating the identification, assessment and reporting of risks. This aids in the proactive management of opportunities and threats, improved decision making, enhanced outcomes and more effective allocation of resources.

Safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ)

Consistent with our values and measures of success, Cameco recognizes safety and health of our workers and the public, protection of the environment, and quality of our processes as the highest corporate priorities during all stages of our activities. This commitment is captured within Cameco’s SHEQ policy, which applies to all of Cameco's activities. The policy is supported by programs in the areas of safety and health management, environmental management, radiation protection, emergency preparedness and response, contractor management, and management system audit.

Each of these programs is based on the “Plan, Do, Check, Act” management system cycle. Where available, the programs are modelled after international standards to capture best practices and make our programs compatible to systems used elsewhere in the world. For example, Cameco’s environmental management program is based on the International Organization for Standardization environmental management system (ISO 14001) and Cameco’s operations are registered to this standard by an external registrar.

There are several important feedback processes in the area of SHEQ. Cameco has a robust corrective action process to enable a consistent, systematic approach to recording, tracking and classifying the severity of all types of non-conformance with Cameco policies and standards, the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions we operate in, and the terms and requirements of our operating licences. It allows us to systematically investigate accidents and other incidents, identify effective corrective actions, track their implementation and share information across Cameco’s operations. Another key feedback process is the SHEQ audit process, as described by the Management System Audit Program, to ensure we remain in compliance with regulatory requirements and internal Cameco requirements. The results of the audits are reported to senior management and the SHE Committee. The outputs from these and other SHEQ processes feed into our annual strategic planning process and are reassessed in the risk process when needed.

Other key roles and responsibilities

Other policies, programs and standards guide how we work and interact with our employees and other stakeholders to support our long-term viability and success:

• Respectful workplace program – promoting a work environment that is safe, healthy and free from harassment, violence and discriminatory practices.
• Talent acquisition and recruitment program – Cameco attracts a diverse array of qualified individuals to fulfill work requirements. This is achieved by taking a well-planned approach to equality, diversity and identifying the required workforce. We have a comprehensive program that encompasses principles and practices for the recruitment and selection of potential employees and the transfer or promotion of existing employees. It includes commitments to:
  • confidentiality
  • hiring decisions that reflect Cameco’s workforce diversity goals
  • promoting a culture of attraction and talent acquisition where all employees are encouraged to refer qualified people from their social and professional networks
  • adhering to sound principles, processes and legal requirements
• Procurement of goods and services policy – our approach reflects our desire to contribute to the communities where we work and live by “buying locally.” This approach is based on our preference for local vendors once we have ascertained that they meet Cameco’s expectations for safety, quality, competitiveness and other factors that may be relevant in a particular case.
• Community investment program – eligibility guidelines for donations and sponsorships in four target areas:
  • youth, education and literacy
  • health and wellness
  • community development
• Engaging First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples (Canada) standard – formalizes our approach to engaging First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples in Canada. Cameco will assist the Crown with its consultation and accommodation obligations, and provide employment and business development to communities affected by our operations.
• International business conduct program – principles, practices and rules to ensure directors, officers, employees and other people representing Cameco conduct themselves properly when dealing with public officials.

Diversity

We understand the true value of a diverse workforce and embrace, encourage and support workplace diversity. Through our firm commitment, we continue to innovate, manage change and grow as a respected industry leader and employer of choice.

In 2015, the Globe and Mail named Cameco one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for the sixth consecutive year. The award recognizes our efforts to include and support a diverse workforce.

Community engagement

We strongly believe that we achieve success at our sites when we involve, train and engage local people.

In 2012, we implemented company standards for engaging indigenous and local communities in Canada, complementing the community engagement provisions in our CSR policy. Since then, to the end of 2015, we’ve announced the signing of three additional important collaboration agreements that benefit communities in northern Saskatchewan by setting out specific socioeconomic, community engagement and environmental stewardship commitments.

Incident reporting and corrective action

All of our North American operating sites have applied the Cameco corrective action process since 2009.

Benchmarked to the nuclear power plant model and adapted for use at our operations, our corrective action process offers a consistent, systematic approach to recording, tracking and classifying the severity of all types of non-conformance with Cameco policies and standards, the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions we operate in, and the terms and requirements of our operating licences. It allows us to systematically investigate accidents and other incidents, identify effective corrective actions, track their implementation and share information across Cameco’s operations.

Specialists at each site use the corrective action process to make sure there is appropriate incident investigation and follow-up and to promote a healthy reporting culture. They report regularly to site management, using minor incident trends to identify areas that may benefit from proactive attention and actions – one of the ways we work diligently to prevent small problems from becoming larger ones.