Safety

Eraring Energy has an ongoing commitment to workplace safety. Occupational Health and Safety is our highest business priority, and we are committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace for our staff, contractors and visitors. Our safety performance has improved steadily in recent years, and with active participation of staff and managers at all levels we will continue to improve our performance.

Our vision for Health & Safety is to achieve:

• An injury and illness free workplace
• Pride in our safety performance
• A blame-free environment
• Timely management action
• Ownership of safety by everyone
• Simple processes and  procedures
• Equal treatment of contractors with employees
• Health considered of equal importance as Safety
• Shared employee and management goals

To achieve this vision we have a range of initiatives in place including a robust Occupational Health and Safety Management system that has been developed in consultation with our Occupational Health and Safety Committees.

A behavioural safety program, “B Safe”, has had a steadily increasing following over the last 3 years. The program is voluntary and involves peer on peer observations in the workplace, lots of positive reinforcement, and aims at understanding and changing workplace behaviours from “at risk” to “safe”.

Contractor’s OHS management systems and OHS performance are now key factors in the selection process of new contracts and are measured as one of Eraring Energy’s OHS indicators.  Contractors representatives from the main contracting firms participate on the Eraring Power Station OHS Committee in “B-Safe” and are required to provide OHS Management Plans on significant projects and Safe Work Method Statements.

Our staff continue to be involved in the initiatives to improve our workplace safety and ensure that our systems are effective.  We have recently implemented a program of self assessment audits where staff who have received training conduct assessments at the workplace.

This is supported by an audit program that is outsourced to an OH&S specialist. As Eraring Energy is a licensed Self Insurer under the WorkCover model, WorkCover also audit our OH&S management system on a 3 yearly cycle. The last WorkCover audit was conducted in June 2005. The areas for improvement from identified by all audits are included in an Audit Action plan that is monitored by our internal Executive OH&S Committee.

At Eraring Energy we place an equally high importance on the health and wellbeing of our employees and have initiated a voluntary fitness assessment program.

Over the coming years we will continue to improve our systems and health programs, with the ultimate goal of achieving a zero harm workplace.