Health and safety is a focal point for Severn Trent - we consider the health and safety implications in everything we do. We are serious about our responsibility to provide a safe and healthy environment for our employees, and for all those who come into contact with our operations. Wherever we operate, we seek to minimise the risks arising from our operations, and we have established three key health and safety principles for all employees:

• If a job cannot be done safely, don't do it.
• Always look out for safety hazards.
• Never ignore a safety hazard - fix it or report it.

STW: Safety performance in 2006/07

In 2006/07 Severn Trent's health and safety performance was 13% better than the previous year (based on RIDDOR incident rate per 1,000 employees). We reached our target for the year, but the figures are still too high. We aim to improve continuously in this area.

Behavioural change and individual engagement are an important aspect of improving safety and general business performance. We encourage our employees to share and debate their ideas of safety, and to put these ideas into practice. Towards the end of 2005/06 Severn Trent Water began to develop a system called SUSA (Safe and Un Safe Acts). This is a one-to-one work-based observation and discussion process in which SUSA trained managers talk regularly with a trained observer about the way in which they and their team do their job. By the end of March 2007, over 80% of managers had received SUSA training.

A second major initiative to improve safety performance is a safety process review of all Severn Trent Water's UK water and wastewater sites. A survey is being carried out at each site, with a target completion date of April 2008. Each survey generates an action plan, with some improvements being made immediately, and larger improvements being incorporated into Severn Trent Water's capital investment plan.

WTS: Safety performance in 2006/07

In WTS, the continuing focus on health and safety brought good results in 2006/07: the number of RIDDOR incidents for WTS was down by over 50% from 2005/06.

The focus on improving health and safety in the different businesses within WTS has taken a number of forms. They include: increasing health and safety training; developing and improving standard operating procedures, where appropriate; and ensuring management support and buy-in for such changes. Many of the messages used are both powerful and simple - such as focusing on 'returning from work the same way we came to work'.

The company also tries to emphasise the human side of promoting health and safety awareness. For example, for the past four years, it has printed a Safety Awareness calendar, featuring drawings by WTS employees' children on the theme of safety at work.

Three WTS facilities in the US and the UK, and a US wastewater treatment facility operated by WTS won the coveted British Safety Council (BSC) five-star health and safety award in 2006/07. These ratings are based on a comprehensive safety evaluation by BSC auditors, and they indicate the effectiveness of an organisation's safety programmes. The five-star award is the highest possible rating.

In the WTS Operating Services division, WTS received the Texas Water Utilities Association Safety Program Award. The R.B. Batchelor Memorial Safety Award is awarded to recognise a Texas water utility, or a particular department, division, or portion of a water utility that has an exceptional safety programme, or which demonstrates significant improvement over prior years in its safety programme for its employees.

In Arizona, a number of WTS facilities won awards from the Arizona Water and Pollution Control Association (AWPCA) in 2007. The Chandler and Ocotillo facilities received Letter of Commendation awards, which are given to a facility which has a year without any disabling injuries. The Ft McDowell and Gilbert facilities both received Awards of Merit for their safety performance. These are awarded for facilities that reach 200,000 cumulative man hours without any disabling incidents.

In the UK the WTS Minworth facility achieved OHSA 18001 certification.