All Meridian staff have access to our health and safety reporting system, MESH (Meridian Safety and Health System), and are trained in how to use it. Last year saw a significant increase in the reporting of Near Miss Incidents and Hazards, which is a positive trend. A reporting culture is a healthy one. It indicates that staff are increasingly aware of hazards, and take them seriously enough to report.

We take every report seriously too. When a new entry is made into MESH an automatic email is generated to the Site and Corporate Health, Safety and Wellness Managers so it can be assessed.

During the 2006/07 year we recorded the following safety statistics (which include both Meridian and contractor staff):

Safety Statistics

For the 2006/07 year all the health and safety statistics include Meridian’s New Zealand operations,subsidiaries, contractors and subcontractors.

Meridian staff reported two lost time injuries during the period. The remaining nine were reported by employees of contractors working on Meridian sites.

The serious harm incident involved a subcontractor employed by Vestas, a Danish wind turbine manufacturer. He was injured while working on top of a turbine at our Te Apiti wind farm site. He was taken to Hutt hospital for treatment and he was visited by our Corporate Health, Safety and Wellness Manager. Our Occupational Physician helped coordinate his rehabilitation. As a result of the accident, the turbine mechanism has been modified so that workers can no longer access the component which led to the incident.

These incidents are of significant concern, as the safety of everyone working on Meridian sites is extremely important to us. We are actively engaged with our contractors and subcontractors to help them improve and optimise their workplace safety processes.