ERM Independent Assurance Report to Toyota Motor Company of ...

ERM Independent Assurance Report to Toyota Motor Company of AustraliaEnvironmental Resources Management Australia Pty Limited (ERM) was engaged by Toyota Motor Company ofAustralia (TMCA) to provide independent assurance of its Online 2011 Sustainability Report (2011 Report), tothe scope of work outlined below.Scope of WorkThis assurance statement is intended for TMCA. The 2011 Sustainability Report covers TMCA’s operations for the 12 months to 31March 2011, unless stated otherwise in the text. This work was performed using ERM’s assurance methodology, which is inaccordance with the AA1000 Assurance Standard (2008). The criteria used were the AA1000AS (2008) Principles of Inclusivity,Materiality and Responsiveness, against which ERM reviewed TMCA’s performance reporting to provide limited assurance on keysustainability data. To do this, we undertook the following activities:• Face-to-face interviews at the corporate level to understand and test the processes in place for reporting sustainability dataand the underlying data management systems. This was followed up with a review of relevant documentation.• Site visits to TMCA’s Altona and Port Melbourne Australia sites, including face-to-face interviews with the sustainability dataowners; testing, on a representative sample basis, of the measurement, collection, aggregation and reporting processes inplace.• Report on our assurance findings to management as they arose to provide them with the opportunity to correct them prior tothe finalisation of our work.• Review of the presentation of information relevant to the scope of our work in TMCA’s Online 2011 Sustainability Report toensure consistency with our findings, including any revisions and corrections identified.The subject matter for this assurance process consisted of adherence to the AA1000AS (2008) Principles and review of the followingmaterial data streams: Environment: Resource use and the following sections: paper use, production water consumption, waste water,non-production water consumption, waste management, general waste, prescribed waste. Social: Employees and the followingsections, workplace, age profile and length of service, gender profile, turnover by gender, region and age, employee satisfactionsurvey, professional development and training and workplace health and safety.ERM’s IndependenceTMCA was responsible for preparing the Online 2011 Sustainability Report. ERM is a global sustainability consultancy with around4,000 staff working in 40 countries. Our experience of sustainability report assurance is extensive. The ERM team of assuranceauditors, experienced in the determination of materiality and the assurance of sustainability data, led by Mel Squire (ERM PrincipalConsultant), was responsible for expressing assurance conclusions in line with the scope of work agreed with TMCA. During2010/2011, ERM did not work with TMCA or its subsidiaries on other consulting engagements.Our ConclusionOn the basis of our scope of work, and in consideration of the limitations of the assurance engagement presented above,ERM concludes that, for the specified subject matter, TMCA’s Online 2011 Sustainability Report appropriately addresses theAA1000AS (2008) Principles of Inclusivity, Materiality and Responsiveness for the 12 months to 31 March 2011.Key FindingsBased on the scope of work, and without affecting our assurance conclusion, ERM identified the following key findings against thePrinciples of AA1000AS (2008), as well as overall findings on good practice employed and areas for improvement:InclusivityTMCA has accepted accountability to those stakeholders on whom it has an impact, as evidenced by its commitment to resource useefficiency, in particular in relation to water consumption. Over the past few years Toyota, in collaboration with other stakeholdersincluding Victoria University, the Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, City West Water and Schweppes has invested in researchinto process water mapping and water optimisation. During the year, Toyota implemented daily monitoring of water consumption ofprocess equipment and greatly improved on the per vehicle water use target of 3.68kL/vehicle.MaterialityThe sustainability issues identified and reported online by TMCA represent those issues material to their business. These issuesinclude those related to the use of resources, ie. water consumption and waste generation, as well as their employees, ie. health andsafety, employee satisfaction and professional development and training.ResponsivenessDuring the year TMCA demonstrated a commitment to ensuring employee job engagement and company satisfaction remained high.Despite the production challenges faced by TMCA, employee satisfaction was maintained at the same level as the previous year,which is an encouraging result and demonstrates TMCA’s commitment to its workforce.

Good Practice• Resource use efficiency and employee engagement: Toyota’s commitment to resource use efficiency and employeesatisfaction has been well demonstrated during the 2010/2011 year.Areas for Improvement• Record-keeping processes: whilst extensive analysis and records of Social: Employees - Workplace activities areundertaken by sites, record keeping of the way this data is generated, could be formalised and improved.• Material data discrepancies: in some instances, data provided in the draft TMCA Sustainability Report were different tothe data assured, representing material data changes. For example, Social: Workplace and Professional Developmentand Training data. These discrepancies have been corrected by TMCA in the final report.TMCA’s continued commitment to sustainability reporting represents good practice.Environmental Resources Management Australia Pty Limited (ERM), 13 October 2011, Melbourne, AustraliaEnvironmental Resources Management Australia Pty Limited (ERM) is an independent global provider of environmental, social and corporateresponsibility consulting and assurance services. ERM has prepared this statement for the TMCA Mining Limited in accordance with ERM’s standardterms and the standard practised by members of the environmental consulting profession performing this type of service at the same time. No otherwarranty, express or implied, is given by ERM as a result of the provision of this statement. To the extent permitted by law, this statement is provided forinformational purposes only, without the right to rely, and ERM will not be liable for any reliance which may be placed on this statement by a third party.This statement may not be used by any third party without ERM’s express written permission.