Sustainable businessSustainable business
Our people
This year, our leadership team has re-affirmed its support for diversity. Our goal is to have diverse teams at all levels of our organisation, in all of our operations. This creates opportunities for our people to grow within the Company.
To this end, the Board has approved the revised Equality and Diversity in the Workplace Policy, which is described on page 37.
Transfield Services is committed to the development of young people as part of our skilled trades’ workforce. We have 725 apprentices in Australia and New Zealand. A strong mentoring culture in our teams supports apprentices in training and work opportunities, which can fast-track their careers.
Continuous development of skills and capabilities benefits all our people and our clients. Our mentoring program is heavily subscribed with managers willing to support our talented people.
Human capital
Using human capital metrics is one of the ways we are making sure our Company remains competitive and that our business model is sustainable.
These metrics enable us to see development and efficiency opportunities in ways that we haven’t done before. They also help us to implement the right systems and processes to support our growth.
In 2010, our human resources (HR) practitioners won a national award in Australia for a piece of innovative performance measurement work that contributed to the development of the Company’s corporate strategy.
Our human capital scorecard is unique and won the 2010 John Boudreau Award for Human Capital Management given by the Human Resources Institute of Australia (HRIA).
The HRIA Awards are keenly contested, and Transfield Services shared the stage with well-known award-winning organisations such as the NAB, Pepsico Australia New Zealand, Optus and Bupa Australia.
In his award citation, Dr John Boudreau – an internationally acclaimed Professor and Research Director from the University of Southern California – said Transfield Services’ work showed how "…operational and financial outcomes… relate directly with human resource metrics".
The scorecard links five people-based measurements with overall trends in financial outcomes. The HR team focused on revenue per employee, net profit after tax per employee, productivity ratio, remuneration ratio, and return on investment human capital. These figures were identified as critical strategic metrics for the business.
This prestigious award is a first for Transfield Services in this area and among our competitors. It acknowledges we are at the forefront of thinking regarding the relationship between human capital management and commercial longevity.
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Our health and safety
During 2010-2011 we substantially reduced the number of injuries sustained by our employees and business partners. The lost time injury frequency rate per million hours worked dropped by 25 per cent during the year, from 1.6 to 1.2. This means about 30 of our colleagues avoided the pain and disruption that results from a serious injury. We also reduced our treated injury frequency rate by about 10 per cent, from 6.8 to 6.1.
We received numerous awards for both our commitment to safety and our performance. Our efforts to reduce injuries through effective partnerships with our clients were recognised by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). They presented our Middle Eastern joint venture, Intergulf, with their Group Company and Contractor Partnership Award for Excellence. In Canada, our joint venture FT Services was awarded the prestigious Alberta Petro-Chemical Safety Council award for safety innovation for a campaign that engaged hearts and minds to reduce hand injuries.
In Karratha in Western Australia, where we operate in partnership with WorleyParsons, one of our electricians, Alan Davies’ safety leadership was recognised by Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA). They selected him to receive the Safety Representative of the Year Award.
These achievements are the result of attention and focus, the introduction of many new tools and processes as well as continuous improvement of established ones. We developed a world-class integrated safety management system with the analytical and reporting capabilities to allow us to maximise learning from incidents across our global operation. We have also increased the visibility of senior management’s commitment to eliminating injuries. They now participate in reviews of serious incidents and field audits.
And, following on from their launch last year, we are embedding our 10 Mandatory Safety Rules, the critical controls that we believe will prevent major injuries.
We are proud of our progress, our improvements, and the recognition received. But we are not satisfied. We’re committed to our vision of "no injuries to anyone, any time". And our impatience is driven from the very top of the organisation, where there is the unshakeable conviction that zero is possible.
We have two points of global focus for the year ahead. The first is "deliver now". That means continuing and accelerating the improvement we achieved during the last 12 months. We are establishing clear leadership expectations and behaviours to drive the rigorous application of key risk controls. The second is "revamping global capabilities" to push standardisation and greater collaboration across the business.
During the year we renamed our Health, Safety and Environment department to Health, Safety, Environment and Quality. This change reflects the importance of monitoring, managing and improving the quality of our service offering to our clients.
The imperative for achieving zero injuries was brought into sharp focus during the year when an employee of a contractor working for us suffered fatal injuries. Our thoughts are with his family and work colleagues, who we supported through their ordeal. The lessons from this incident were reviewed at the most senior levels of the organisation. We will do all we can to prevent a recurrence.
Our environment
Around the world we deliver services for our clients to many thousands of assets. Whether these are simple residential dwellings, networks like water supply systems, or large industrial facilities like refineries and power stations, all can contribute to and be affected by climate change.
Throughout our business there are thousands of individual opportunities to improve sustainability. A water-saving initiative, some waste avoided, an industrial process operated more efficiently – across an enterprise the size of Transfield Services it all adds up.
As a Company, we have the power to significantly improve the sustainability and resilience of the industries, the infrastructure systems and networks, and the social infrastructure that enables and enriches our daily lives.
In addition to a myriad of local initiatives, Transfield Services has been delivering large-scale projects in response to climate change. Examples of these include:
- In 2010 we completed construction and commissioning on the Gippsland Water Factory. It treats domestic and industrial wastewater to a standard suitable for industrial re-use. It also generates power using methane from the treatment process as fuel. By treating this wastewater, it removes the fugitive methane emissions from the open canal that carried the untreated wastewater to an ocean outfall, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions (methane is 20 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas).
- FutureFlow, an alliance between Goulburn-Murray Water, Transfield Services, Sinclair Knight Merz and Comdain, was awarded the national Infrastructure Project Innovation Award at the 2010 Australian Water Association National Water Awards for a range of innovative irrigation and water-saving projects. FutureFlow also won the Victorian Division award last year.
- The FutureFlow projects are delivering average water savings of 94 gigalitres per year – enough fresh water to fill 37,600 Olympic swimming pools.
- The South East Recycled Water Alliance (SERWA), an alliance between South East Water, Transfield Services and Aecom, continued work on two recycled water treatment plants near Melbourne, Victoria. These plants will treat domestic wastewater to a standard suitable for re-use by a range of industries in the surrounding region, reducing the demand on potable fresh water supplies.
- Our Fleet Management team continued to look for ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions footprint of our vehicle fleet in Australia. We introduced hybrid Camry sedans, which now make up 10 per cent of our sedan fleet, and gas-powered Ford sedans, which make up a further 26 per cent of the sedan fleet. We have introduced large numbers of gas-powered light commercial vehicles, which now make up 16 per cent of the total fleet.
Indigenous Participation
Transfield Services’ Indigenous Participation Approach, including our Reconciliation Action Plan, adheres to the three key pillars of Relationships, Respect and Opportunities. We are bridging the gap of disadvantage between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
Our Indigenous employment target is to have Indigenous Australians represent four per cent of our Australian workforce by 2013. Currently three per cent of Transfield Services Australian employees identify themselves as Indigenous. This contrasts with 2.5 per cent of the general Australian population who are Indigenous.
Our Indigenous Participation Strategy 2010-2012 outlines how we will deliver cultural recognition, awareness, employment, and education and training opportunities for Indigenous people and their communities.
Our Strategy was developed in collaboration with our clients, our Indigenous Advisory Board, our senior management team, and Indigenous people both internally and externally.
We are working towards three key goals:
- Improving Indigenous employment within our business and providing increased training and development opportunities for existing Indigenous employees, with the support of the Federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
- Working closely with Transfield Services’ Regional Indigenous Steering Committees to embed the Indigenous Participation Approach, including all components of Relationships, Respect and Opportunities.
- Strengthening our new partnership with the Australian Indigenous Minority Supplier Council to improve engagement with Indigenous suppliers and support local Indigenous small to medium enterprise.
Developing our skilled trades’ workforce
Our Telecommunications New Zealand apprentice Kaj Bicker has embraced training opportunities to help achieve his career goals. In 2010, Kaj won five national and trans-Tasman awards.
Kaj was named Colin Chadwick Apprentice of the Year by Transfield Services, Telecommunications Apprentice of the Year by Electricity Supply Industry Training Organisation (ESITO), and Service Person of the Year by Telecommunication New Zealand’s principal client, Chorus.
At the Chorus Annual Service Person of the Year Awards, Kaj picked up two additional awards: The Service Person of the Year ‘Transfield Trainee of the Year’ and Service Person of the Year ‘Transfield Annual Winner’.
Kaj’s Regional Manager, Kip Anderson, says: “When I first took on this area manager role three years ago, I had a vision that our New Zealand Telco Apprentice Program would produce highly skilled outside plant technicians able to move around as work flows and business requirements dictated."
"I shared my vision with those 12 first-year apprentices. Collectively, they took on this challenge and turned my ideal into reality."
"Kaj went one step further combining outside and inside plant component skills to become what I call a ‘super tech’ – a career goal I’d expect from an older, more experienced technician."
Kaj says: "Winning these awards means that I can pursue my passion in rigging and brings me closer to my career goal: to be the first multi-skilled Telco graduate in New Zealand to major in both the inside and outside plant disciplines."
Reconciliation Action Plan
We were the first services organisation in Australia to have a registered Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). Our RAP was launched in May 2009 by Australia’s then Deputy Prime Minister, The Hon. Julia Gillard. It outlines measurable actions that we will take within our business to improve Indigenous Participation.
Transfield Services won the Ethical Investor 2010 Australian Sustainability Award (Social – Community) for our RAP. These Awards recognise the best achievers in environmental, social and corporate governance practice.
Our community
Transfield Services’ Community Engagement Approach builds relationships with key stakeholders, develops and implements community projects and initiatives, and engages local people and businesses with our organisation.
Our 2010/11 highlights include:
- Continuing our Community Engagement governance by conducting audits of all our Community Engagement Programs. This ensures we are meeting the expectations of the local community, our client and our business, and achieving our goal of successful engagement at a local level.
- Maximising opportunities for local communities through supporting local employment, business and procurement. Finalising a comprehensive Local Employment Investment Report that will ensure opportunities for local communities to participate with our business are captured.
- Developing a Community Engagement Training Program to enhance our employees’ skills and knowledge in community engagement.
Transfield Foundation
The Transfield Foundation is a joint initiative between Transfield Holdings and Transfield Services that provides philanthropic support for the communities in which we work.
The Foundation invests in innovative programs with particular emphasis on technology, education and the arts; areas that are aligned to our shared pioneering history and ongoing success.
Transfield Services’ leadership in Indigenous Reconciliation in Australia underpins the Foundation’s support for employment and education.
In 2010, three-year grants were awarded to the following innovative community organisations:
Many Rivers Microfinance provides loans and business development to micro and small businesses that would not ordinarily have access to commercial banking arrangements, with a key focus on Indigenous individuals in regional and rural communities.
Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience provides an out-of-school mentoring program for Indigenous secondary students who work with trained mentors selected from the mainstream university student population.
The Clontarf Foundation conducts football academies designed to improve the education, discipline, self-esteem, life skills and employment prospects of young Aboriginal men.
Continuing a Transfield tradition of arts patronage, the Foundation supports two outstanding arts organisations – the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Biennale of Sydney.
Learn more about the Transfield Foundation and details on how to apply for grants at its website: www.transfieldfoundation.org
For more information, Transfield Services 2011 Sustainability Report is available online at www.transfieldservices.com