The 2001 award rewards Walter for its substantial achievements of the past two years in putting in place an innovative approach to safety and, particularly, its proactive position in developing a leading-edge, nationally-accredited Project Safety Management Course.

“Just over two years ago we conducted an honest and critical self-appraisal of our culture, our practices and our track record”, said Walter’s managing director, Russel Perkins.

“What we saw wasn’t pretty. Our management systems lacked the culture that strongly promoted safety management whilst our understanding of the moral, financial and legal impacts of previous OHS performance levels was less than adequate. Our rising liability rates meant that in NSW alone we had to perform approximately $80 million of construction work to merely pay our worker’s compensation bill in the 1999/00 year.”

Developed by Walter’s own people, in consultation with government and the trade unions, the four-day project safety management program targeted all supervisory and management levels. Over 240 managers were trained.

The immediate benefits have been outstanding. The lost time injury rate (LTI) has dropped from 27 in June 2000 to 11 in June 2001 across all of Walter’s operations, nationally. In NSW, the company’s workers' compensation premium has been reduced by $1.6 million.

This achievement and commitment to safety management are very evident in the company’s mining division.

Servicing largely the underground mines in NSW and Queensland, the mining division has seen its annual turnover double in the last two years to more than $20 million. It employs an average of 140 people and carries out high-risk works within existing mine operations that involve secondary supports, longwall recovery and development driveage.

Over the last 24 months, Walter work sites at Westcliff colliery in NSW and the North Goonyella colliery in Queensland have operated LTI free. Walter believes this outcome must rank as a first for underground mine safety.

With the implementation of a proactive safety management system, Walter’s safety record across all of its mining sites saw its LTI reduce from 34 (June 1999) to zero (March 2001). By comparison, the LTI rate for all NSW underground mines exceeded 40 as at June 2001.

“This sharp improvement in safety performance and reduced operational risks has enabled Walter to pass on to clients major benefits, not the least being reduced costs through lower worker’s compensation rates,” said Michael Jones, operations manager - mining division.

“Having set a benchmark for underground mine safety, Walter’s performance is providing impetus to the mine owners to institute improved safety from their own workforce. This is a most positive and highly desired outcome that must be embraced by all in the industry to achieve the culture change that has been so evident within the Walter organization,” Jones said.