Health and Safety
The protection of the health and safety of all people we work with is of fundamental importance to Investa. We regard our performance in this area as a key measure of our total performance.
We have established systems and accountabilities to ensure that work is carried out in a manner that prevents people being exposed to hazard or risk, or, if hazards and risks are unavoidable, that exposures are managed to the maximum extent practicable.
Resulting from our SHEMS, strict policies and guidelines are in place that require all Investa employees and contractors (including principal contractors conducting development and project work) to ensure that all care is taken to avoid endangering themselves and other people at the workplace and that appropriate education, training and supervision are provided.
FiveStar Grading Audit
Last year was the fifth consecutive year that Investa has engaged the National Safety Council of Australia (NSCA) to independently audit the OH&S management system applied to the commercial office buildings managed by our Facilities Management team.
The annual NSCA audit program provides a valuable external appraisal of our systems and the opportunity to measure ourselves against best practice.
The audit covers approximately 1,200 elements addressing all aspects of Occupational Health and Safety using the NSCA FiveStar Health and Safety Management System as the audit criteria and importantly, provides a mechanism for the identification, assessment, reduction/elimination and monitoring of risks to people and property.
The audit included:
- a review of documentation;
- discussions with relevant site personnel, including managers, supervisors, employees and/or safety representatives as required;
- an inspection of the physical working environment and observation of work practices; and
- comparison of our standards with those set by the NSCA FiveStar Health and Safety Management System, legislation, Australian and associated Industry Standards, and Investa Standards as outlined in the related Investa documentation.
Results
The Key Element Score achieved from this year's NSCA Grading Audit was 99.0% and our Injury and Illness Statistics Index (IISI) was 0.0 reflecting zero lost time injuries for the 658,098 hours worked in building operations. A Grading Audit result of 90% or higher and an IISI of less than 50 is required to be given the maximum rating of FiveStars.
| NSCA FiveStar Grading Audit |
2002/03 |
2003/04 |
2004/05 |
2005/06 |
2006/07 |
|
| Number of participating buildings |
16 |
25 |
26 |
28 |
29 |
| Injury and Illness Statistics Score (IISI) |
5.3 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
18.2 |
0.0 |
| Rating achieved |
FiveStar |
FiveStar |
FiveStar |
FiveStar |
FiveStar |
| Score improvement (2006/07): 1.7% |
Public Liability Reviews
Investa maintains a policy of engaging an independent specialist to conduct rolling three-year public liability reviews of all properties in our Asset Services portfolio after an initial review at acquisition/ commissioning. Each review produces a series of recommendations which are recorded centrally, and progress is reported to our insurers each year. This process enables us to demonstrate a pro-active approach to public liability risk management and helps in negotiations for more competitive premiums.
Progress at Clarendon
We have established that the Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) for Clarendon Residential cannot be reliably reported due to incomplete and unreliable site hours logs. This is being addressed.
A lot of work was undertaken at Clarendon during the year to build a safety framework of a comparable standard to that which exists in the commercial portfolio. It must be stressed that, by industry standards, Clarendon's safety performance is very good and that the major challenges relate to reporting and documentation, particularly in relation to subcontractors.
We placed emphasis on training and skills gap analyses during the period. All staff were reinducted to build safety awareness and a workplace inspection system was introduced to provide a systematic review of all workplaces to proactively identify hazards and systematically eliminate them. The inspection system was launched in NSW and is in the process of being rolled out to Clarendon operations in other states.
Every principal contractor engaged by Clarendon is formally inducted and regular audits of on site safe work method statements and procedures are being carried out. We are also working with the various state-based WorkCover authorities and industry partners including the HIA on a variety of safety solutions for the housing industry.
Externally Managed Properties
We are able to actively apply Investa-specific policies, systems and procedures to all properties we manage internally. In some properties, however, principally those we own in Canberra, Adelaide and Perth, external managers have been appointed and are responsible for managing all operations including matters relating to safety.
Over the past 12 months, we have worked towards increasing the visibility of how risk management is performed in externally managed properties and initiated a review of the onsite application of their risk management frameworks including:
- hazard registers and appropriateness of controls;
- record of risk controls; and
- emergency preparedness procedures and training documentation.
Our review has concluded that robust OHS Risk Management systems are in place at all properties. A regular review process has been established for all externally managed properties.
Commitments for Financial Year 2008
- Maintain NSCA Fivestar rating.
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