Strategy: Pursuing zero injuries and building a healthier workforce. Providing a safe and injury free workplace is a fundamental priority. Our employees have a right to a safe workplace and employee injuries and illnesses as a result of unsafe work practices are costly and damaging to our business – financially, operationally and to our reputation.  
 
Highlights 2006/2007
Performance 2006/2007
Actions 2007/2008
We also recognise that healthy employees are more productive and engaged employees, investing in initiatives that build a healthier workforce are appealing for our people, and pay dividends for our business.

Health, Safety & Environment Management Systems

Our commitment to safety starts at the AGL Board level, with the premise that all injuries are preventable and the only acceptable goal is a workplace free from work related injury or illness. We report six monthly to the Board Health Safety & Environment (HS&E) Committee, and since March this year, have been reporting results on key HS&E indicators to the full Board on a monthly basis, to increase the visibility and focus on employee safety.

 

AGL’s integrated HS&E management system, LifeGuard is the blueprint for the processes, procedures and behaviours to ensure all AGL people work safely and remain injury free. Now in its 12th year, LifeGuard is based on international standards ISO 14000 for Environmental Management Systems and Australian and NZ Standards for Safety Management Systems, AS 4801.  Staffed by a dedicated team with reporting direct to the AGL executive level and supported by strong representation at all levels across the business, LifeGuard is the framework by which we strive to drive a strong safety culture across AGL.

 

A company wide electronic reporting system, IRIS, is used to report and track work related injuries and illnesses, as well as near misses, hazards, motor vehicle crashes and asset related incidents. This year, our Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) increased from 3.4 to 5.0 (with the 2005/06 rate excluding our Agility business). Our Medical Treatment Injury Frequency Rate (MTIFR) was stable, remaining at 2.3. This disappointing LTIFR result is predominantly due to the new and different health and safety challenges arising from our newer generation and gas production businesses.

 

 

In response, this year we’ve significantly restructured our HS&E team, to increase representation at an operating level and to improve hard line reporting and accountability on safety direct to the business. Across the business we’ve replaced our peak committee structure with HS&E management groups comprising key senior operational leaders. They are accountable for improving the systems, processes and leadership capability to raise safety standards and performance. This year these groups conducted critical systems assessments to identify key risks within their operations, and developed and implemented targeted action plans to mitigate the risks.

 

Going forward, we are shifting in Merchant Energy to a ‘back to basics’ safety approach. Elements of this will include clarifying leader accountabilities, improving their skills and capabilities with training and development and increasing levels of personal safety engagement for all employees.

 

We had a decrease in the rate of work related injury within our retail business this year, despite its employees undergoing a period of almost unprecedented change and disruption - testimony to the uncompromising focus placed on employee safety by retail leaders during this turbulent period.

Gas Valpo

In February 2007 a gas explosion in Valparaiso, Chile, resulted in the deaths of four people and substantial damage to local residential and commercial property. Whilst final responsibility for the cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, it is expected that Gas Valpo – AGL’s Chilean gas network owning company – will be required to contribute to compensation for the victims. We expect the cost of any such compensation payments will be substantially covered by Gas Valpo’s insurance arrangements.

 

 

AGL Wellbeing Program

Our AGL Wellbeing Program assists employees in the proactive management of their health and wellness by giving them access to a range of services and benefits. FluVax is available to all employees each winter, and this year around 30 per cent of our employees chose to be vaccinated. Many AGL sites provide Fruit @ Work as a healthy alternative for snacks.

 

A survey conducted this year identified a number of key risk factors for AGL employees; namely stress, nutrition, body weight and fitness. We’re currently considering appropriate interventions that will assist employees to reduce these risk factors.

 

Through our negotiated agreement with Medibank Private employees can access discounted health insurance for themselves and families. To date, 400 employees have taken up the offer. This agreement also gives employees access to Priority Heartbeat, an online personal health and wellbeing assessment that helps employees understand their own health profile, and build a plan to improve their overall health. This year, Medibank recognised the above average health profile of AGL employees with a donation to AGL of $12,000, which will be used to fund a new range of wellness initiatives for employees this year.

 

For the third year AGL sponsored 70 employees in the Global Corporate Challenge, a national program to encourage people to exercise more regularly.