Dialogue with local community

In the area of relations with local communities the Group companies undertake to:

  • maintain an open dialog with the representatives of the local community and local government units,
  • have their representatives participate in meetings of teams communicating with oversight from the District Mining Office in terms of issues related to mining damages,
  • provide a mechanism for reporting, recording and representing complaints,
  • focus social and charitable activity on local communities,
  • support protection of the heritage and tradition of the local community,
  • conduct mining operations and activities in a manner mitigating the adverse impact on the land surface,
  • offset the losses incurred through the regular remediation of damages caused by the operation of the mine,
  • avoid the necessity of relocation of the residents, and if properties have to be bought out, take relevant actions, proposing a fair compensation for the properties,
  • support social investments in location education, aimed at inclusion of the residents and ensuring their participation in the social and economic development of the Group,
  • refrain from foreign expansion in a situation where the legal culture of the target country would create a significant risk of breaking human rights, including the rights recorded in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

JSW’s dialog conducted in 2022 with the governments of the municipalities in which the Group conducts activity was maintained just like in previous years. Contacts with the local authorities in whose area coking coal is mined is maintained directly by Directors of individual mines as regards resolving current problems. In 2022, mine authorities held more than 2,000 meetings with the local community and local governments, during which the most relevant issues were discussed, including mining damage, current and planned mining operations along with their impact on the surface of the land and discussion of submitted applications. When the subject of relations with local governments are matters of a broader and more long-term dimension, the dialogue with municipalities is coordinated by the Property Management Team in the JSW Management Board Office.

Also involved in the dialogue with the local community and local governments is the JSW Foundation, whose primary goal is to support local communities in the Group's area of operation. The Foundation supports institutions and organizations as well as local governments. JSW also supports the local community by giving donations, for example, in the form of fixed assets.

In 2022 the Group carried out promotional and social activities in the region, not only to compensate for the possible difficulties related to mining activity, but also strengthening communities’ friendly attitudes towards the Group. Charitable activity in the Parent Company is run on the basis of the binding Rules and regulations of JSW S.A. in promotion, advertising, representation, sponsoring, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and charitable activity (donations).

Charitable activity in 2022 was aimed mainly to support health care and culture. The total value of donations made in 2022 was PLN 8.5 million:

  • 59% of the funds spent on donations involved donations to the JSW Foundation,
  • 17% of the amount involved donations to health care,
  • 12% of the donations went to culture,
  • 6% were in-kind donations made to aid Ukraine,
  • 4% of the donations went to sports,
  • 2% of the donations went to local communities and employees.

In 2022 the spending on JSW’s promotional activity including expenditures for advertising, promotion and public relations, was PLN 3.0 million (in 2021 this figure was PLN 0.8 million).

JSW also earmarks funds for the statutory activity of local associations, supports cultural activity and education and supports employees in difficult life situations. The parent company actively collaborates with universities, schools and pre-schools.

Our practices and initiatives

In accordance with the rules accepted in the sustainable development strategy, social activities, especially charitable activities, are concentrated in the geographic areas where the JSW Group’s units operate, which are the areas that the JSW Group may impact.

10 best practices of the JSW Group were included in the report entitled “Responsible business in Poland 2022. Best practices” published by the Responsible Business Forum (FOB), in which experts point to the most interesting and exemplary business practices of the past year.

Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa ranks among Poland’s largest producers of evaporated food-grade salt. “Dębieńska Salt” has gained the recognition of connoisseurs in Poland and Belgian, Czech, Slovakian and Austrian consumers alike.  The recovery of salt allows the Group to avoid the discharge of highly saline water pumped from the mining areas into the Bierawka River, while at the same time obtaining high quality evaporated salt. The Group’s salt evaporation process, using technologies developed in the United States and Sweden, is a unique solution on a European scale.   

Every year, Przedsiębiorstwo Gospodarki Wodnej i Rekultywacji processes 1.6 million cubic meters of brine and produces approx. 67 thousand tons of high-quality food-grade salt.

The 360° JSW Mines (Kopalnie JSW 360°) app shows the mining operations in a novel way. The films, photos and texts were created and produced by employees of the JSW Group, in particular of JSW S.A., JSW Szkolenie i Górnictwo Sp. z o.o. and JSW IT Systems Sp. z o.o.  Thanks to the app available on JSW's website - without leaving home - you can view the most important facilities and locations at JSW creating a realistic picture of the mine. Our multimedia stroll will take you along a miner’s daily trail, from the gate of the mine, to the elevator ride down and to the longwall. It also shows in detail what happens with coal underground and then on the surface. The project is aimed at mining professionals, students of higher technical schools with a mining profile, and students of vocational and technical schools. 

https://www.jsw.pl/biuro-prasowe/kopalnie-jsw-360

In the area where coal was once mined hundreds of meters underground, there is now a local education center. The project named “Save the bees - they can live among us” has two dimensions: educational and practical. The educational dimension takes the form of an educational trail; the participants – mainly children and young people, but also their parents – enter the original bee habitat and learn about the habits and daily functioning of bee colonies, the products of their activities and environmental threats. The practical dimension of the project is simply an apiary. It is built next to an active mine shaft is an example of revitalization, reclamation and rational development of mining areas. To date, nearly a thousand children have already participated in the workshops held by the beekeeper.

JSW has introduced radio control at material stations in the Borynia Section of the Borynia-Zofiówka Mine. This has streamlined the loading and unloading process, while improving the safety at the operator's workplace. This is the first such solution in Poland. In the Borynia Section, transporting assemblies equipped with radio control operate at the 950m and 838m levels, which are critical locations of the mine. It took one year to develop the control system in its present form. Now, a remote control allows not only to drive a locomotive, but also to steer the transporting assembly, i.e. the “carrying beams”, on which carts, containers or materials are suspended directly.  Radio control allows one to control the first or second winch independently or, as needed, to control two winches at the same time. 

Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa has launched a series of workshops for supervision and senior supervision staff, under the name of the JSW Competence Study. The trainers at the workshop are employees from across the JSW Group.  The scope of topics covered during the first workshops was determined on the basis of a questionnaire. The topics included: ordering materials, tender procedures, compliance, mining economics, rationalization and interpersonal skills. Other workshops have also been launched pertaining to: the terms of reference inspections carried out by the OUG, as well as legal liability of the supervision personnel. The Competency Study, at the request of employees, will become a permanent element of the training process.

JSW SA, Silesian University of Technology and KOMAG Institute of Mining Technology signed an agreement on cooperation in the area of cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is one of the most important contemporary challenges of the mining industry, which has gained particular importance in the face of the war in Ukraine. Digital transformation of the industry allows us to effectively optimize, manage, but also monitor the safety of coking coal mining and processing processes. In the value chain from coking coal to steel, our company is driving the country's energy transition. JSW S.A.'s cooperation with the Silesian University of Technology and ITG Komag will involve the education of university students, as well as the implementation and support of innovative projects and research programs in the field of cybersecurity of industrial systems. 

The JSW Knowledge Mine education project, which has been promoting science since 2018, has gained new partners. In 2022 JSW has partnered with the University of Silesia in having the university's scientists conduct science workshops for students, which are prizes in numerous JSW Knowledge Mine competitions. Educational materials on such topics as the use of hydrogen, responsible consumption, the importance of coking coal for the economy, and electromobility, have been made available at www.nowakopalniawiedzy.pl site and JSW Knowledge Mine FB page. The site has been developed with input from JSW’s employees and the cooperating sports clubs. Through the partners, we have been able to publish valuable video material promoting sports, language learning and healthy lifestyles.

The JSW Group-owned Jastrzębska Spółka Kolejowa, together with School Complex No. 6 in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, is implementing a project aimed at developing an application for analyzing diagnostic data of rail traffic control systems and a tool for measuring system currents of the RSR180 wheel sensor. When implemented, this initiative will enable the combination of education elements in terms of safety in rail transport and development of the student’s creative potential. The cooperation will also enable high schools to develop their competence and young people to gain professional experience.  

The IT tool developed as part of the project will be promoted at national and international invention fairs and competitions.

Jastrzębskie Zakłady Remontowe, member of the JSW Group, delivered a set of 143 sections of powered supports to the Knurów Section of the Knurów-Szczygłowice mine. These are the first sections entirely designed and built by JZR employees.  Thanks to the cooperation of the design team and a group of experienced miners of the Knurów Section, a modern structure was developed ensuring work safety and comfort. A team of 9 people, designers and technologists, worked on the project. Each new powered support prepared by the JZR is designed on the basis of precisely specified requirements and needs of the mine and the mining and geological conditions of the longwall in which it is to operate. On average, JSW will extract approx. 3.5 tons of winnings from this longwall per day.   

Over the years, JSW has paid special attention to supporting children and young people. It makes efforts to support interesting, innovative and effective solutions in the area of education, health, ecology, culture and sports.  The JSW for Children program is addressed  to children in need. JSW is a patron of our three orphanages: in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Pszczyna and Cieszyn. They raise over 120 children aged from 2 to 18. Some of the activities supported by Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa for children and youths living in these establishments include: art workshops, educational trips, volunteer campaigns organized by JSW employees. As a result of JSW’s support of the orphanages, they are able to participate in trips to various sites in Poland, scientific picnics, communication workshops, meetings with JSW Group employees and other events.  These initiatives give children the opportunity to travel around the country and discover local tourist attractions, often for the first time in their lives.

ACTIVITY OF THE JSW FOUNDATION

The JSW Foundation, established at the end of 2018, was set up to conduct and support public and socially beneficial activity in the mining communes in which JSW operates by collaborating with local governments and supporting local initiatives. The JSW Management Board has elected to create this organization to strengthen the Group’s image as a company espousing the principles of corporate social responsibility and demonstrating its charitable commitment. The foundation was established and founded by JSW. The JSW Foundation focuses its activity on 16 municipalities where JSW conducts its operations, supporting initiatives in four areas: culture and tradition, leisure, science and education and health and safety.

In 2022, the JSW Foundation conducted its statutory activities using funds donated by the Founder in 2022 and in previous years, allocating funds in the amount of PLN 7.1 million, of which it allocated the amount of PLN 0.6 million to support the relatives of the victims of the April 2022 accident sat the KWK Pniówek and KWK Borynia-Zofiówka, Zofiówka Section mines, and the amount of PLN 6.5 million to implement 251 projects requested by local institutions and/or organizations in four areas.                 


In 2022, the Parent Company undertook a number of activities for refugees from Ukraine, allocating nearly PLN 0.6 million for this purpose. Among the aid activities were:

  • a donation of PLN 0.4 million to the Polish Red Cross for Ukraine,
  • organizing a full-day trip with full board and attractions to Zakopane for 69 children and their guardians from the Odessa Children's Home,
  • collection of donations among JSW Group employees (conducted in March and April 2022),
  • organization of transportation of families from Ukraine,
  • providing additional furnishings for facilities where refugees from Ukraine are staying in Jastrzębie-Zdrój in the form of 300 blankets and 100 mattresses,
  • preparing 50 beds for refugees in the Mszana municipality,
  • preparing food packages for refugees staying at the Central Station in Warsaw,
  • providing a financial donation of PLN 15,000.00 to equip collective living quarters for refugees in the municipality of Godów,
  • providing a financial donation of PLN 60,000.00 to equip collective living quarters for refugees in the municipality of Godów,
  • donating an electric bus to Caritas Polska, to be used to transport refugee families from border areas to Caritas centers.

Education support

Since 2018 JSW has a special scholarship program for pupils studying on a daily basis in schools providing an education in mining occupations; they are covered by the provisions of the memorandums of understanding executed by JSW in connection with collaboration in respect of organizing the practical teaching of the profession in the form of practical lessons or professional practices for pupils and employment guarantees in JSW for graduates. In addition to apprenticeships Group companies also cooperate with local labor offices.

Many Group companies cooperate with high schools and universities, offering apprenticeships and sometimes guaranteed employment. JSW, CLP-B, JSK and JSU are among the entities participating in this cooperation. JSW IT Systems has in place the Graduate Apprenticeship Regulations, under which the Apprenticeship Program operates. One example of scientific research cooperation with various types of institutions is the company doing business as CLP-B, which cooperates on a constant basis with the Faculty of Natural Sciences in the Institute of Earth Science at the University of Silesia in Katowice.

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR TALENTED YOUTH

JSW has implemented a scholarship program to encourage young people not only to study in mining classes, but also to take up employment at JSW SA plants in the future. The JSW SA scholarship program is based on the fact that for 10 months in a calendar year, scholarship holders receive a monthly scholarship in the same fixed amount. In addition, at the end of each school year, three people with the highest average from each school covered by the JSW SA Scholarship Program receive cash prizes for their academic performance. Currently, Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa SA has about 900 active scholarship agreements in eight schools in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Pawłowice, Ornontowice, Czerwionka-Leszczyny, Knurów and Rybnik.