Which companies have the highest and lowest injury rates?

Challenger Financial Services had the highest LTIFR out of Australia’s top ASX listed companies for the 2017 financial year, while four companies recorded a LTIFR of 0, according to research by citi.

The ASX listed companies with the five highest LTIFR rates were Challenger Financial Services (11.8), Metcash (10.1), Qantas Airways (9.1), Wesfarmers (7.4) and Woolworths (6.8).

The companies with the lowest LTIFR rates were Emeco Holdings, AWE Limited, Sintex Medical and Transurban Group (all 0.0) as well as WorleyParsons and ASX (both 0.1).

Citi’s Safety Spotlight: ASX100 Companies & More: Injury & Fatalities Data FY05 to FY17 (where available) Presented & Interpreted, analysed the safety performance of the ASX100 companies plus 28 others.

The companies with the highest TRIFR rates for the 2017 financial year were Wesfarmers (28.3), Qantas Airways (24.7), Star Entertainment Group (22.9), CSR (17.8) and Northern Star Resources (14.3).

The companies with the lowest TRIFR rates were WorleyParsons (0.4), Transurban Group (1.0), AGL Energy (2.0), Emeco Holdings (2.2) and Mineral Resources (2.3)

Metcash, Woolworths, Qantas Airways and Wesfarmers have consistently recorded some of the highest LTIFR rates over the past few years, while Wesfarmers has consistently recorded the highest TRIFR rate for the past four financial years.

The research found that all but 13 of the ASX100 companies now report some safety data, and Elaine Prior, citi’s senior environmental, social and governance analyst, said investors increasingly expect companies to report safety data and demonstrate active programs to manage safety.

If companies do not publicly report on workplace safety, she said this raises doubts about whether safety is being actively managed.

She said lagging injury measures (usually LTIFR and/or TRIFR) are most frequently used to assess safety performance.

A further 78 companies (out of 128) specify that safety is a part of executive remuneration criteria, and Prior said only 30 of those companies detail safety performance targets in their remuneration plans.

For a more detailed news report on safety reporting trends, see the upcoming March edition of OHS Professional magazine.