Health and Safety

Fletcher Building's decentralised structure places operational responsibility for health and safety with each business unit. However, safety is not just an operational issue. The maintenance of safe workplaces is also a strategic issue because of the correlation between productivity and improved health and safety, and because of the high human cost of injuries and fatalities. That means we seek to balance the strategic importance of safe work places with the benefits of operational control by business units.

Health and safety vision, policy and standards for Fletcher Building are established by an executive-led Health and Safety Council chaired by the chief executive. Each year, the Council produces a safety plan which details priorities, requirements, and programmes for the whole group. Performance targets are cascaded down to divisions and business units.

To support divisional and business unit health and safety activities, high quality health and safety resources have been progressively developed by the group over recent years. These include tools to ensure that variability in basic safety standards is reduced, a common health and safety electronic reporting system, and a health and safety Intranet site. Guidelines and resources have been produced to ensure that common hazards are managed in a more consistent manner.

Currently, the group is investigating the various techniques and tools available internationally that we can use to better understand and improve the safety culture across our sites.

An executive-led initiative each year reinforces our commitment to safety in the workplace. In this last year, 'The Ripple Effect' DVD was produced which described the effects of serious injuries and fatalities on the families and friends of accident victims. The DVD and its accompanying workshop had a profound effect at every level of the business. This initiative was selected as a finalist in the 2010 Safeguard New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards. Our business units have also been externally recognised. A safety video created by Firth won first place in the 31st Annual Telly Awards held in New York, and in the same awards, a safety video created by Fletcher Aluminium was awarded second place.

This year, our health and safety focus extended to improving employee wellbeing. While some business units already had specific objectives in their health and safety plans relating to the wellbeing of employees, Fletcher Building created its own support programme, LifeTime. This provides policy direction and acts as a central resource to streamline wellbeing in the group while complementing existing programmes already established elsewhere in the business.

Health and safety achievements across the group are recognised through the annual Fletcher Building Health and Safety Awards. This was the third year in which these awards were held.

The effect of all these initiatives has been significant progress in reducing injury rates. Our primary injury rate measure is the 12 month rolling average Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate per million hours (TRIFR), with total injuries being the sum of lost-time and medical treatment injuries. In the last year, this rate has dropped from 23.79 to 11.24. (In June 2006, this rate was 59.63). Our lost time injury frequency rate has dropped from 5.81 to 3.42. (In June 2006, this rate was 9.84).

Despite our progress, however, we are far from satisfied with this level of performance. Fatalities and injuries still occur. Tragically, an employee of Fletcher Construction (South Pacific), died in Apia, Samoa after falling from a height within the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture Headquarters building project on 15 June.

Fletcher Building understands that a further reduction in total injuries must occur to reduce the risk of serious injuries and fatalities. Our health and safety vision of zero harm is based on the principle that all accidents are preventable. The participation of senior management in our programmes, and the investment of significant resources in safety education and training, continues to demonstrate the group's strong commitment to health and safety.

In New Zealand, Fletcher Building retained primary-level membership of the Accident Compensation Corporation Partnership Programme following an external audit in November 2009. Australian manufacturing sites are subject to differing injury management requirements, based on state regulation and the range of schemes available. Self-insurance is usually the preferred option and additional operations are moving into self-insurance schemes.