We consider our people to be our greatest assets, which is why their health and wellbeing is critically important. This is reflected in our company value of ‘Safety and beyond’, which for us, means:

• in our business, safety comes first, because physical and mental wellbeing are fundamental to a successful workplace
• we create a supportive environment, where we feel safe to challenge the norm, to speak up, to say what we mean
• safety is a shared responsibility – by taking care of each other, AGL becomes a better business for all, and
• we care about our people, making it safe to speak up.

Read more about our values in the Workplace culture and talent section.

We have set ourselves an aspirational goal of ‘zero harm’ to our people’s health, safety and environment. Strong and dedicated safety leadership and dynamic management systems are essential components of our efforts to achieve a ‘zero harm’, safe and sustainable work environment.

To guide us towards zero harm, we have developed a strategic framework known as ‘Target Zero’, which starts with the philosophy that all incidents are preventable. Target Zero recognises that our goal of ‘zero harm’ is a journey, but we believe it is achievable. The framework is risk-based supported by data and evolving analytics, action plans, and both business unit and site-based key performance indicators. These collectively provide the framework to drive change in HSE leadership, culture and performance, assisting us in achieving the goal of being a safe and sustainable business across all areas of our business and operations.

A major milestone in FY18 was the launch of our new HSE Commitments. Together with our ‘safety and beyond’ value, they reinforce that safety is a shared responsibility, and they guide our people to adopt the right behaviours and habits to create a safe workplace. Our HSE commitments are:

• We are committed to working safely: Safety is a condition of employment and we all share responsibility for making a safe workplace.
• We care for our people: We encourage habits and behaviours that support a safe and sustainable culture, because our physical and mental wellbeing are paramount.
• We protect the environment and our assets: We take care of the environment, our assets and the communities we serve, always putting our commitment to sustainability ahead of commercial or operational considerations.
• We act when we observe hazards or unsafe behaviours: We speak up and encourage the right behaviours.
• We assess risks: We 'Look. Think. Act' to make the right choices for a safer workplace and safer operations.

Governance

An effective safety culture requires proactive commitment, accountability, and continuous reinforcement from all levels of management, including the AGL Board. The AGL Board and Executive Team review HSE performance via the monthly Group Performance Report. The Board Safety, Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility (SSCR) Committee also reviews safety performance on a quarterly basis, as well as reviewing audit findings and recommendations, strategic priorities, and significant incidents.

Our Health and Safety Policy sets out our overarching commitments in relation to health and safety including injury management. The policy applies to all employees, contractors, products, services, and joint ventures under AGL’s operational control.

Our Health, Safety and Environment System (HSEMS)

Our Health, Safety and Environmental Management System (HSEMS) forms the framework by which we manage our HSE risks across the business. Our system, consisting of HSE Standards and HSE Methodologies, provides a framework to meet the requirements of Australian Standard AS/NZS 4801 (2001) Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, Australian Standard AS/NZS ISO 14001:2016 Environmental Management Systems and AS3806:2006 Compliance programs. In addition, during FY18, AGL Macquarie (which represents around 44% of AGL’s installed generating capacity) maintained third-party certification to AS/NZS 4801 (2001) Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems.

The HSEMS provides the framework and hierarchy of standards, guidelines, procedures and tools needed to meet the objectives of the Target Zero Strategic Framework. It provides a platform for a consistent approach to managing HSE across our business but allows flexibility to be applied to different operational and corporate sites and situations. The system is also a key element of ensuring compliance with HSE legislation across the jurisdictions in which we operate.

Internal and external audits of the HSEMS facilitate a culture of continuous improvement. Audit findings are reflected in HSE Audit Action Plans and in improvements to the management system, strategic direction and safety programs. During FY18, the focus of the HSE Audit Plan included Asbestos Management, Working at Heights, Emergency Management, Lifting Operations, Plant and Equipment and Risk Management. Action plans for recommendations arising from the audit are monitored weekly.

Our hazard, incident and near miss reporting systems are designed to ensure that issues are reported and investigated in a consistent and effective manner. A key initiative in FY18 has aimed to improve incident investigation outcomes, through the update of our procedure and targeted training of investigation leaders.

Safety performance

AGL measures and tracks safety performance using a number of lagging performance indicators based on reported safety incidents. We also track leading indicators to provide insight into trends to inform us on our current and future programs.

The total injury frequency rate (TIFR) for employees decreased from 2.0 in FY17 to 1.2 in FY18, which met our target of ≤1.7. The total injury frequency rate for contractors decreased from 5.4 in FY17 to 4.7, which did not meet our target of ≤4.6.

The combined TIFR for both employees and contractors decreased from 3.1 in FY17 to 2.4 in FY18.

The occupational injury frequency rate (OIFR) for employees decreased from 1.8 in FY17 to 1.0 in FY18, and likewise the OIFR for contractors also decreased from 1.0 in FY17 to 0.5 in FY18. The combined OIFR for both employees and contractors decreased from 1.5 in FY17 to 0.8 in FY18.

In FY18, there were 9 employee and 18 contractor TIFR-related incidents, representing a decrease in employee incidents and an increase in contractor incidents compared to FY17 (during which period there were 13 employee and 17 contractor TIFR-related incidents, respectively).

During FY18, AGL people completed 11,535 Health and Safety Walks, 4,058 Environment Walks and 7,237 HSE Technical Interactions. There were also 5,377 hazards (comprising 4,670 safety hazards and 707 environmental hazards) and 1,021 near misses (comprising 813 safety near misses and 208 environmental near misses) reported. These results reflect an improvement in reporting behaviour compared to FY17.

In FY18, we appointed a Senior Safety Advisor who will report directly to CEO on enterprise-wide safety including corporate safety. The focus of this role is to provide HSE strategic and technical support and advice, and to undertake independent due diligence reviews of parts of the business that require an increased level of support.

Visit the data centre to view AGL’s current and historical performance across a range of safety indicators, including total injury frequency rate, lost time injury frequency rate, medical treatment injury frequency rate, occupational injury frequency rate and injury severity rate.

SafeWork NSW - AGL Macquarie

AGL Macquarie has been charged by SafeWork NSW with contravening section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW). Refer to the Strong and ethical governance section.

Health and wellbeing

The health and wellbeing of every single person at AGL matters, because we want everyone to lead happy and fulfilling personal and professional lives. We achieve this by caring for ourselves and each other.

We support the health and wellbeing of our people through a range of initiatives to ensure no person commences or continues work if they are not fit for work. We help our people to maintain and improve their health while working with AGL

During FY18 our health strategy has been developed to enhance engagement and awareness across the organisation and to inform data-driven programs. This strategy consisted of three core components:

1. Promotion of physical and psychological health and wellbeing initiatives to educate and promote self-awareness of personal wellbeing, including data-supported preventative and reactive programs, a Mental Health Framework to support a mentally healthy workplace, health checks and annual flu vaccinations.
2. A new governance program for health monitoring and surveillance to increase visibility and consistency in managing risks, including occupational health exposure surveillance and monitoring of hazards such as noise and dust.
3. Improved injury management outcomes, which aim to improve our injury prevention, return to work and claims management processes, by promoting early intervention and equipping leaders to effectively support injured or ill employees to rehabilitate and either remain or return to work sooner following work and non-work related injuries.

Related information

• AGL Health and Safety Policy