Bluescope Steel CSE Report 2005

YOU ARE HERE: CSE Report 2005 > Health & Safety > Overview

Health & Safety

At BlueScope Steel, health and safety is an integral part of the way we undertake our business. An important driver for continuous improvement in health and safety performance at every level of the Company is our goal of Zero Harm to people.

The following beliefs form the basis for achieving our goal of Zero Harm:

Working safely is a condition of employment.
Employee involvement is essential.
Management is accountable for safety performance.
All injuries can be prevented.
Training employees to work safely is essential.
All operating exposures can be safeguarded.

BlueScope Steel has a comprehensive Occupational Health and Safety Management System in place, which is mandatory in all our operations. Its purpose is to protect the health and safety of our employees, customers, contractors, visitors and the public and to ensure our people are fit and competent to undertake work.

The Management System focuses on three basic aspects: safe and healthy people, safe systems and a safe and tidy plant. Initiatives in these areas are supported by strong and caring leadership, engaged employees and a robust Management System. Under the System, 23 Safety Management Standards have been established. Each business is required to demonstrate compliance with these standards. During 2004/05 our self-assessment process showed a continuous improvement in meeting these standards.

BlueScope Steel's safety improvement initiatives have seen a substantial reduction in injuries. We have continued to make good overall progress, with many businesses reporting noteworthy results.

Despite these improvements, a fatality occurred at our New Zealand Steel operations just after the close of the 2004/05 financial year.

In the past eight years, BlueScope Steel has had five fatalities. The only acceptable number of fatalities is zero, and we are doing everything possible to achieve this.

BlueScope Steel is striving to achieve at least a 20 per cent reduction in serious injuries (Medically Treated Injury Frequency Rate - MTIFR) next year. Each part of the business will select targets to support this goal.

The ongoing effort to further develop our safety leaders is an essential element of our overall strategy, as is the continued implementation of risk management practices, behavioural health and safety audits and the reporting of incidents and near misses.

We will not be satisfied until every person who enters any one of our sites around the world leaves in the same condition in which they arrived.