Reed CSR 2007.indd - Reed Elsevier

40 Reed Elsevier Corporate Responsibility Report 2007 Workplace
Health and Safety continued
We conduct an annual Group Health and Safety Survey reaching more than 80% of our
workforce. As the majority of our business is US-based, we report against US Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidance with data covering both work-related
incidents and illnesses that result in greater than one day of work loss time.
Variance
between
2007 2006-2007 2006 2005* 2004*
Fatalities 0 0 0 0
Number of work-related incidents
and illnesses that resulted in
loss time greater than one day 46 -34% 70 76 76
Incidence rate
(cases per 1,000 employees) 1.68 -35% 2.58 2.30 2.68
Frequency rate
(cases per 200,000 hours worked) 0.22 -35% 0.34 0.30 0.35
Total days lost 1,077 -20% 1,342 1,174 984
Percentage of employees
covered by HS Survey 87% 1% 86% 91% 81%
* Includes Harcourt operations, then part of the RE group
As we continue to improve the transparency and robustness of our non-fi nancial reporting,
Ernst & Young have provided external assurance on our 2007 health and safety data. Their
statement can be found in Appendix 12.
In order to provide year-on-year comparisons across our business units, subject to different
statutory reporting laws, we provide incidence rates (number of incidents and illnesses x 1,000/
number employees) and frequency rates (number of incidents and illnesses x 200,000/number
of hours worked). We calculated hours worked based upon an average of 220 seven hour
working days in a year.
There were no fatalities in 2007. Our incidence and frequency rates continue to improve.
Between 2006 and 2007 we decreased incidence and frequency rates by 35%, with a 20%
decrease in the total number of days lost.
In order to understand areas of concern, we broke down 2007 loss time incidents by type. The
resulting analysis shows we reduced incidents from manual labour, linked to increasing delivery
of products online, with less dependence on warehouses and other facilities that carry a higher
risk of injury to employees. Slips/trips/falls was the highest impact area at 19%, followed by
lifting and handling of materials at 15%, with Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI), including Carpel
Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), at 13%.
As highlighted by Ernst & Young in their assurance statement, operations outside of the US have
been guided by local regulatory frameworks rather than Group guidelines when reporting health
and safety data. We will be working to address this in 2008 and ensure a standard approach to
reporting from all sites.